


All Good Cops Die Young

by Millicent_Dagworth, WriterzBlock



Series: Escapades of the King's Delving Agents [1]
Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: And Protective Giovanni, Angst, As they are both still technically kids, As usual happy ending will happen, Both do end happily though, Conspiracy, Crime Solving, F/M, Give them both a few years, Human Trafficking, Hurt/Comfort, I do like protective Sylvie, I love everyone's Dynamic, It gets dark, Kidnapping, Molly protection squad, Mysteries, Percy gets framed, Percy is a wreck, Percy is too but just better at hiding it, Ramsey and Percy go on the run for a bit, Ramsey helps her, Ramsey pines hard, Romance, The Molly X Sylvie is slight, but everyone lives, there will end up being two endings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:07:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24778870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Millicent_Dagworth/pseuds/Millicent_Dagworth, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterzBlock/pseuds/WriterzBlock
Summary: If you were to tell criminal Ramsey that someday he would be on the run with a cop, he’d call you crazy before selling you some dirt turned to gold. And if you were to tell cop consultant Ramsey that someday he’d fall in love with a cop, he’d just laugh in your face. But if there was one constant in life, it would be that everything changes. Even people.One night, Ramsey is shocked to see that Percy is on the news. But not for the normal kind of news he would expect to see for the upstanding officer. Percy is under investigation for the kidnap of Molly Blyndeff.
Relationships: Molly Blyndeff & Giovanni Potage, Molly Blyndeff & Percival "Percy" King, Percival "Percy" King & Meryl Lockhart, Percival "Percy" King/Ramsey Murdoch, Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Molly Blyndeff, Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Molly Blyndeff & Giovanni Potage, Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling/Molly Blyndeff
Series: Escapades of the King's Delving Agents [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923406
Comments: 38
Kudos: 108





	1. Everything changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple things of before words: This takes after Redwood Run (I'm sure sure how long rn) and Ramsey is not only on parole, he is also working as a consultant for the Police.  
> If anyone else has any questions, feel free to ask them and I'll do my best to answer them asap!

If you were to tell criminal Ramsey that someday he would be on the run with a cop, he’d call you crazy before selling you some dirt turned to gold. And if you were to tell cop consultant Ramsey that someday he’d fall in love with a cop, he’d just laugh in your face. But if there was one constant in life, it would be that everything changes. Even people.

The day started off normally enough. Percy had picked up the appraiser on her way to work, like she normally did. They made the daily small talk that consisted of him pestering the cop on her “secret case” and her brushing it off as a need to know basis. When they got to the station, they picked up their investigations the day prior and got to business per usual. They were coming close to figuring out who had stolen Miss Molroy’s necklace by noon and decided to take an “early” lunch.

“I just wish you’d tell me, doll,” Ramsey said as he ate his salad. Percy was munching away on her own salad after insisting that the man eat healthier. She shook her head as he stuffed another bite into his mouth.

“I don’t want to involve you,” she responded curtly. “This could get dangerous if not handled correctly.” Ramsey flashed a wink at her.

“Danger is my middle name, sweetheart.” Percy gave him a confused look.

“I thought it was Tristan,” she remarked. The rat-man sighed.

“It’s a figure of speech. But the point is, we’re partners right?” He reasoned. “I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine. It might help to have a shield when it does get dangerous, Perc. An extra eye might help you crack it open too.” He added the last part more as a joke when he saw the corners of her mouth twitch downwards, a sure sign that she was imagining his words.

The woman grew quiet for a bit while they both finished their lunches. As they climbed back into the squad car, the blonde finally spoke back up. 

“Soon.” Ramsey gave her a strange look and she clarified. “I’ll tell you about the case soon.” He gave her his lopsided grin.

“Thanks, Percy. Promise you won’t regret it.”

* * *

Later that night, Ramsey was winding down from work. They managed to crack the case and get the guy who did it arrested. Well, Percy was the one who did the arresting, he just stood there looking gross. With a deep sigh, he flopped down onto the couch and flipped through the tv channels until he landed on the news station. 

_ Might as well keep informed _ , he thought as he grabbed his drawing notebook next to him. He opened it up to his latest unfinished drawing. It was one he had been working on for a while, though he’d never show it to anyone, let alone Percy. Mostly because it was a drawing of her. It was from a week ago when they had gone on a hike as part of a “Happy Parole” gift from the stiff. He had a glimpse of her in front of the sunset when they got to the waterfall and… Yeah, he kind of started drawing it when he got home. 

As he drew the all too familiar scene on paper, the drone of the newscaster fading into background noise as he worked. Just as he started to erase a part he wasn’t happy with, his attention turned to the tv for a split second. Ramsey felt a smile creep onto his face when he saw Percy’s police picture on the screen. When he saw what the headline was though, his blood ran cold.

**Officer Percival King under suspicion for the kidnapping of Molly Blyndeff**


	2. New Light

Ramsey got no sleep that night. As soon as he read those words on the screen, the man was pacing around the small living room. He tried to call Percy (saved as Miss Fuzz) a few dozen times before giving up and trying to call the police station. He tried to get information on what happened- if Percy was okay, why she was even accused of this, what the _fuck_ were they thinking arresting someone like Percy for this- and eventually got someone named Meryl on the phone.

The man remembered Percy talking about a friend named Meryl. She was a Mundie cop who didn’t seem put off by Percy’s standoffishness. Apparently, Percy had told Meryl about Ramsey so she was particularly eager to update him on what was going on (though she also sounded just as upset as he was about the situation). The girl that went missing, Molly Bylndeff, had been missing but wasn’t reported missing by her family. The one who had reported her missing was a couple of friends of hers, Sylvester and Giovanni, who had come to check up on her. They weren’t sure when she went missing as neither of her friends had seen her in a little over a week and the dad didn’t remember the last time he saw her. Her older sister was apparently staying with some friends, which turned out to be true. 

Ramsey felt his blood starting to boil as he listened to the woman speak. A girl goes missing and her family doesn’t report her, but Percy gets the blame? The dad doesn’t even remember when he last saw his own fucking daughter?? And why the hell were they saying she was kidnapped there wasn’t any proof this girl was? Clearly there were problems in her home Molly might have wanted to run away from. _(Wait, didn’t he know someone named Giovanni? Fuck, not the time)_

Sometime later, Meryl told him that Percy wasn’t answering his calls or texts because she was still being interrogated. This only made him more worried as he recalled how tired the detective had looked when dropping him off. Because of the fight earlier, she was already low on stamina. He didn’t know what time she had been picked up but knew they probably wouldn’t give her food during the questioning. Or let her sleep. (Ramsey looked at his watch to see that she had probably been awake for about 20 hours at this point) 

“Do you know when she’ll be released?”

“They won’t release her until they have to. That should be about 5 unfortunately,” Meryl told him. Ramsey checked his watch again. It was currently 3:20. He could try to get there before her, clean up the place a bit, make her some food so she could sleep before explaining to him her side of the story. The man knew that she didn’t- couldn’t have done this. She was too kind, too sweet, too pure to have done something as low as to kidnap a child.

“Where does she live?”

* * *

At about 4 am Ramsey Murdoch finally made it to Percy’s apartment. He would have to lock pick into the home while carrying the bags of groceries he had gotten. Hopefully, nothing would break. Just as he started to get to work on the lock, he realized that there was a sound from inside, like someone was in there. He checked the door to find it unlocked. The man quietly opened the door, ready to punch a burglar, only to see a familiar blonde picking up some things on the ground.

The place was a mess, things tossed about on the floor. It looked like a tornado had literally gone through the room. Luckily though, the furniture seemed to be just fine. Seems like the police had given up on finding anything and left the place a wreck. Percy was leaning down by the coffee table to grab something that looked like broken pieces of glass off the ground. 

“Percy?” he blurted out without thinking. The woman paused her movement before turning her head towards him with squinting eyes. She blinked a few times before slow recognition appeared in her blue eyes. 

“... Ramsey?” Jeez she sounded like she was going to fall asleep on her feet. It took him a split second to see that she was swaying hard. She had tried to stand up (probably to greet him like a “good host”) only for her knees to start buckling. The rat-faced man quickly set the bags down and rushed forward in time to catch Percy when she collapsed. 

“Hey, hey Percy,” he said as he brought her to the couch. “Take it easy and rest, alright?” She lightly swatted at his face away, trying to push herself up in her drowsiness. 

“Gotta… Clean up,” she barely muttered above her breath. Ramsey shook his head. 

“No, doll. You’re too exhausted,” he told her firmly. “You rest up and I’ll take care of it. Alright?” The woman tried to protest and was already slipping into unconsciousness. Ramsey patted her arm before getting up to bring the groceries into the kitchen. He started to put away the ingredients, noting that Percy did not actually have a lot of variety like he thought. He resolved to wait until he cleaned up as he promised before getting to work on breakfast, Percy needed to sleep after obviously being kept up all night. 

It wasn’t until about 8am Ramsey decided it was time to wake up Percy. He felt bad about only letting her have less than four hours of sleep, but he needed answers- both of them did. The cop needed to eat too. He fixed up a plate for her of pancakes and bacon before walking over to her sleeping form. Ramsey gently shook Percy awake and helped her sit up. She still looked bad, but it wasn’t as bad as when he first saw her. Luckily he didn’t have to help her eat. As soon as the food was in her sights, the blonde was reaching for it. By the time he came back with his own food, she was eating at a tired, but still fast, pace. 

It was quiet while they ate, neither not quite knowing what to say or how to say it. Ramsey kept an eye on her just to make sure she didn’t suddenly double over in sleep. That would be a hard mess to clean up. Luckily though, the blonde managed to eat without dropping any of her food.

Finally, when Percy set her plate on the table in front of them, the silence was broken.

“Perce,” he slowly said, “what happened?” She looked down at her hands clasped together in her lap. He couldn’t see her face but knew she was struggling not to cry. “Perce?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. She took a deep, shaky breath before speaking.

“It wasn’t long after I dropped you off,” she started retelling. “I had just pulled into the parking lot when I was suddenly surrounded. I hadn’t even seen the sirens, they must have been waiting. Before I knew what was going on, I was being dragged out of the car and put into cuffs. I believe my rights were being read to me as they put me in a squad car. They… wouldn't answer my questions as to what was happening or why I was being detained. At least, not until we reached the station.

“They accused me of such a heinous crime…! Kidnapping such an innocent…! A child at that…!” Percy started shaking and Ramsey couldn’t tell if it was from anger or distress. It could have been both. “We’ve worked together for years and they really think I could have done this?? I would never harm a child! Let alone k-” Ramsey wrapped his arms around her when a sob tore out of her throat. She stiffed for a split second before breaking down and letting the tears fall.

“I’m sorry, doll,” he comforted. “Some people are pure shit, through and through.”

“They said I did it, that they _saw_ me! They said that there were other witnesses! I never would have done such a thing!” Ramsey felt his hands shake slightly in anger from what she said. For a moment he imagined marching down to the station and turning whoever said that to solid gold, but he knew that would only make things worse. Instead, he rubbed her back to help comfort Percy.

“It’ll be alright. I know you’d never do anything like that Percy,” he told her. “We’ll figure it out. Promise.” 

They stayed like that for a while, Ramsey wasn’t sure. But eventually the blonde broke away, having composed herself enough to stop crying. Ramsey felt reluctant to let her go, knowing she was putting up a front. This was Percy though, she wouldn’t talk until she was good and ready. So he would just have to wait until then.

“Hey Perce?” Without looking at him, she tilted her head to acknowledge that she heard him. “You said that you pulled into the parking lot. What parking lot?” Percy looked down at her lap again.

“It was the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse,” she told him. “I was working on the case.”

Ramsey blinked before it hit him what she was talking about. “That secret case?” She nodded. 

“Indeed. I had a lead onto where the perpetrators were but… I guess it was just a trap.” Percy bit the inside of her cheek as she raised her head to look him in the eyes. “Do you think it might have something to do with what is happening?” Ramsey scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, that depends on what the case is about,” he reasoned. “What _is_ it about?” Percy hesitated a few moments before looking him in the eyes. Despite how she had looked earlier- sad, devastated, even a little lost- Ramsey could now see the determination and drive shine in her eyes behind the tears that still lingered in her blue gaze. He felt his heartbeat start to rise as he continued to gaze into them, he almost missed what she said next because of it.

“Inscribed human trafficking.”


	3. Tough Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I will say this, I have never seen the anime campaign so I have no idea how to write Meryl. I hope I am doing her justice.

After Percy explained the case to him, Ramsey insisted that she sleep so he could look over the evidence she found. Percy was against it at first but quickly fell asleep mid-argument on the couch. The man couldn’t help admiring how cute it was. From an artistic standpoint. Yeah.

He was currently going through some missing person files. They were all “open and shut” ones where the disappearance was blamed on the person running away. Every single one of the victims had an epithet of sorts and were from not so great homes. It was the type of home where the victims wouldn’t be missed- at least not for a long time if at all.

“I wonder if there were other disappearances that weren’t reported,” Ramsey muttered to himself. He would have to look into it himself for now since Percy was in no shape to investigate anything.

The red-haired man took a glance at the woman curled up on the couch next to him. He had brought the files down to look over them while making sure Percy stayed asleep. Though he wasn’t sure if it was entirely needed. She looked dead to the world with her arms under her head like a pillow. Her hair was a jumbled mess of a bed head. She almost looked cuter in her sleep.

Ramsey immediately shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts. _No. Bad rat man,_ he scolded himself. _Percy’s a cop. You’re a former criminal and con-man. She’s too straight-laced to ever think of you like that. Besides, if you ever do go back to crime, you’ll be back on opposite sides. Best to let these feelings die right now and let her find someone who’s worth her time._

He glanced at the sleeping form next to him, and a nagging thought popped into the back of his mind. That even if he did tell her, she’d be disgusted and he’d be left alone again. That you shouldn’t ever fall for a cop. Ramsey once again shook himself out of these thoughts before he could spiral more and went back to work focusing on the papers in front of him.

Well, tried to anyway. Not long after, he started having to blink multiple times to read just one word. Ramsey yawned loudly and leaned back against the couch. His eyelids drifted close and his last thought before unconsciousness was, _maybe just a quick 5-minute nap._

**~~**~~**

Percy woke up to warmth and a song playing. She lifted her head to find that in her sleep she had somehow fallen against Ramsey. It had become dark outside once again but she could tell that the redhead was asleep. He had his head leaning on the back of the couch and Percy could feel his chest rising and falling with his breaths. She had lifted her head off of his shoulder, his arms still wrapped around her shoulders. The warmth she was feeling was coming from the man himself (apparently he was a heater in his sleep, not that Percy was complaining). As much as she enjoyed this position the song that was currently playing in the otherwise empty apartment needed to be dealt with.

The blonde carefully detangled herself from her sleeping partner and looked around to find the source of the song. It took only a moment to find that it was her phone making the noise as someone was calling her. The light from the phone somewhat illuminated the darkened room around them making it easy to see that it was indeed the cause of the noise. She grabbed her phone from the table, seeing it was Meryl, and answered it.

“Meryl, to what-”

“Percy, it’s bad! Real bad!” The woman sat up straighter hearing the desperation in her friend’s voice.

“What happened? Are you alright?” she questioned.

“I’m fine but you’re not,” Meryl practically yelled. Percy stiffened. _She couldn’t possibly mean-_ “You need to leave Perce! Hideout somewhere! They put out a warrant for your arrest!” 

Percy’s mouth felt dry suddenly. She knew they were eager to solve the case- that much was obvious from the interrogation- but already arresting someone in a bit over the day? It seemed a bit… rushed. Her mind raced to think of something, what had happened, what they found, that could possibly make them so sure that she, Percival King, could have been behind such a heinous crime. 

“Percy???” Meryl’s concerned voice snapped her out of the spiral she had been slowly going down. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Yes, I… thank you, Meryl. I’ll keep that in mind. See you soon,” Percy told her.

“Whoa, whoa, wait don’t-” Percy hung up on her, knowing she would try to talk the blonde out of it. She stared at the phone in her hand, her mind racing and the lump in her throat threatening to choke her out. The spot next to her stirred as Ramsey sat up. Percy didn’t look over at him as he did, not knowing what to tell him.

“What was that about?” he asked. She opened her mouth for a moment before closing it. She felt a hand on her shoulder and Percy subconsciously leaned into the comforting gesture. “Perce?”

“Ramsey, I need a favor.” Ramsey nodded.

“Sure, doll, what is it?” 

“Go to the squad car and grab the Eraser cuffs in the console,” Percy quietly instructed him. “And cuff my hands behind my back.” The hand retracted suddenly as if her shoulder had become as hot as coals. A strangled sound came out of the man’s mouth causing Percy to turn to him. His eyes were wide, the golden one glinting from her phone’s light. He examined her face, a look of shock slowly giving way to… something. 

“You’re serious.” It wasn’t a question. Percy nodded.

“They have a warrant out for my arrest,” she explained. “It would only make things worse if they think I’ll fight back.”

“What are you talking about??” Percy’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion at his sudden outburst. 

“Well, if they think I’ll fight back they may try to use force,” she explained. “It would be better for everyone if they find me in Eraser cuffs.” Ramsey only looked more horrified. 

“Perce, that’s suicide!” 

“It’s the smart thing to do,” she said with a scowl. The man huffed angrily.

“No, the smart thing to do would be to get the hell out of Dodge,” he pointed out. “This is an attack on you specifically. If you stay, they’ll just fake the evidence to get you put away!”

“I am an officer of the law, Murdoch,” Percy said in a low voice. “I cannot just up and leave when there are charges pressed against me. I believe in this justice system and won’t abandon it just because I’m in a tough spot.”

“They’re already faking evidence Perce! They have it out for you and won’t stop until you’re dead!” An edge of desperation had begun to creep into the man’s voice, making Percy turn to him again. She was surprised by how scared he actually looked. “Percy, please just listen to me.”

She turned back away from him, unable to find her voice with the expression he wore. “Ramsey, I have to stick to my moral code. I won’t run.” He grabbed at her hand and Percy didn’t pull away. 

“Perce, think about it. They want this case buried. They don’t want it found out. But you’re digging into it, trying to bring out what’s going on into the light. And you’re close. You’re close to the truth and whoever is behind this doesn’t want it found out. If you stay, they will make sure that you’re dead or keep your mouth shut in one way or another. If you leave, sure you might lose your badge, but this case can be solved, and most importantly, you’ll be alive to make sure it does.” 

Percy stared at their hands (his much larger than hers), thinking about what he was saying. If what Ramsey was saying was true, then if she did stay here then Percy would die. But if it was a big misunderstanding somehow, there would be no doubt that she would lose her badge. The blonde closed her eyes tight, struggling to decide what to do. There was a gentle hand squeeze and that’s when it came to her. 

Her being arrested, the evidence, that parking lot- it was all a setup. Someone was working behind the scenes to make sure that this wasn’t brought to the public. Someone was trying to break her to shut her up, to get her badge taken away so she wouldn’t look into this. A strong sense of justice flowed through Percy and she squeezed Ramsey’s hand back. 

She knew what she had to do.

“Where do we go?” Ramsey looked relieved, his shoulders sagging with an invisible weight being lifted. He gave her hand one more squeeze with that lopsided grin of his.

“I know a place, you’ll be safe there.”

“Then let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is curious, my Tumblr is up for questions if anyone is curious about the story or Private Investigator Percy. There are even a few drawings I've done of her and I do plan on trying to draw a couple of the upcoming scenes.  
> My Tumblr is https://millicent-dagworth.tumblr.com/


	4. What Next?

Ramsey kept his only good eye out on Percy when he could as they were packing up. He instructed the younger woman to pack light and to bring essentials. Which for her was a couple changes of clothes and, surprisingly, a picture frame. The ratman made a mental note to ask about it later. They had other things to worry about for now.

Once they got into the car, Ramsey drove off. In the distance, the telltale sign of red and blue lights. Ramsey didn’t say anything about it and neither did Percy. While they drove, Ramsey turned occasionally to see that Percy was staring out the window with her chin resting on her hand. He could almost hear the thoughts going on in her head- all of them bad and spiraling. He wasn’t quite sure what to do this time. Sure, usually he’d crack a joke to break the tension and jolt her out of the thoughts, but if he were to try that now Ramsey was sure he’d get zapped for it.

In the end, Ramsey decided to try to just be comforting. “Hey, we’ll figure it out,” he assured her. “We’ll get these guys and get your name cleared.”

“Thank you, Ramsey,” she said. “You’re a good friend.”

“ ‘Course Doll. You’re my best friend,” Ramsey flashed a smile at her, careful to still keep his good eye on the road. A vague smile appeared on her face. “Now get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there.” Percy nodded and leaned back in the seat. The rest of the drive was silent, Ramsey keeping the radio low and the blonde woman sleeping the entire way. 

It was a few hours' drive away and they were driven in silence. It allowed him to lull over what happened over the last couple of days. He was still having a lot of trouble wrapping his head over the whole situation. It had just happened so quickly. He was sure Percy was feeling just as lost as he was at the moment.

Ramsey felt horrible about practically forcing her hand in running away when there was a warrant out for her arrest. But it was the only thing he could think of where neither of them got killed. When he went on his rant, the ratman was worried that he might have broken her spirit by what he said, yet she still was able to look at him with enough determination and drive to make his heart race. She was a strong woman and would be able to get through this.

Ramsey glanced at the sleeping woman next to him, a smile tugging at his lips. 

_ Yeah, she’ll get through this alive. _

**~~**~~**

Percy woke up to the sight of an old wooden ceiling. In her half-conscious state, all she could do for a while was trace the patterns in the wood with her eyes. It took a good 10 minutes for her brain to fully awaken and to process what the unfamiliar surroundings were. She was up in a moment, her hands reaching for the sword she always kept at her bedside only for her hand to grasp nothing but air. A momentary flash of panic and concern later, Percy’s brain decided to remember the events that had taken place. 

Her hand started to tremble as a wave of hopelessness washed over her. It still all felt like a bad dream. But it wasn’t. It was true- she had been accused and was now wanted for the kidnapping of a child. Percy felt her eyes start to prickle as tears threatened to fall. She quickly clenched her fist and jaw to hold them off. Now was not the time to give in to her feelings, now was the time for justice- to find the perpetrator, save that girl, and clear her name.

She sat up, running a hand through the mess that was once her hair and examined her surroundings. She was indeed in a log cabin like the ceiling had suggested. Currently, the room she was in was a bedroom with one bed and a tv on the opposite wall. The bags she had packed earlier were sitting by the door, unopened. There was a window to her right that was covered up by curtains, but one could tell it was at least light out judging by the small amounts that leaked in.

_ First thing’s first, _ she thought as Percy carefully got out of bed, trying her best to ignore the chill that radiated from the floor. She walked over to search the bags for something clean to wear. In the end, she settled on a long sleeve polo and a pair of tan slacks. She also made sure to dig out a hair and toothbrush to make herself look more put together than she was feeling. Once Percy was pleased with how she looked, she stepped out into the rest of the cabin.

It was just as quaint and simple as her room had been, though the chairs and couch had a golden trim on them. Two chairs and a couch were gathered around a maroon-colored coffee table and a tv placed an appropriate distance away. On the table, were case files and folders while above the tv were more papers hanging up in an all too familiar pattern.

To the left of where she had entered the room, there was an island that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room. It seemed well stocked too, seeing the pans and pots that hung up along the walls. Percy was confused by the empty spot on the wall only to hear a sizzling sound. She saw that Ramsey was in the kitchen, presumably cooking with the missing pot. His back was to her, so he didn’t see her approaching. He was back in his “dollar store juice box” clothing which made Percy smile a bit at the memories of their misadventures. 

She approached him as he continued to cook, curious as to what he was cooking, and looked over his shoulder into the pan. “What are you cooking?” she asked.

Ramsey let out a surprised shriek, almost dropping the food on the floor. He also swung his free hand at her which Percy easily grabbed before it landed. She couldn’t suppress the chuckle that came out of her mouth when recognition lit up his eyes. The red-haired man huffed (with more amusement than irritation Percy noted) and broke into a grin.

“Glad to see you’re up,” he said. Percy stepped to stand beside him.

“I am sorry for startling you,” she apologized. Ramsey shook his head. 

“Nah, you didn’t startle me.” Percy raised an eyebrow and he grumbled. “Fine, you did. But it’s fine. I’m sorry for trying to punch you.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “But what are you cooking?”

Ramsey shrugged, “just some eggs and toast. Nothing fancy like last time.” They stood at the stove quietly for a few moments, both watching the eggs cook. (Percy noted that there was something green and red in the eggs) The man quietly made a couple of plates and handed one to her. She nodded thanks and looked for a table to sit down at. But there wasn’t a kitchen table. Only the coffee table in front of the tv, which is where Ramsey had headed to- sitting on the couch. Percy slightly scowled before following him.

“You should get a table,” she commented in between bites. Ramsey raised an eyebrow at her over his own food. 

“Perce, there’s one right in front of you,” he teased. 

The woman sighed, “I meant one to eat at. A proper dining room table.” Ramsey shrugged.

“A table’s a table Percy,” he pointed out. “As long as it’s flat and off the ground with four legs, you can eat off it. Hell, I’ve had to DIY some tables before.”

“That is not proper Ramsey.” Despite how serious her tone was, both of them were smiling and chuckling. Well, Ramsey was chuckling. After a few moments of silence, Percy spoke up again. “So where are we?”

“Eh, an old hideout of mine,” he told her, “it’s on the edge of the Taiga country. It’s also by the Desert and Sea-Side countries. Made it a bit safer if I had to run.” They once again lapsed into silence. 

“So, I’ve been going over the files and stuff,” Ramsey admitted. “I think I might have an idea of what to do next.” Percy raised an eyebrow. 

“Oh?”

“Yeah, those kids that reported her missing, we should talk to them,” he said. She nodded.

“An excellent idea. I shall grab my sword.” The blonde finished her plate and stood up to go clean them. She could feel the other man’s gaze on her as she walked.

“What do you mean? We’re not going today.” This time, Percy was the one to give him a confused look. 

“What do you mean?” She asked, “ Wouldn’t that be the best course of action?” Ramsey shook his head. 

“You wanna let the heat die down for a bit,” he explained, “Maybe a day or two before we could head into the city again.” Percy crossed her arms, her look turning into a steely stare. 

“If we wish to solve this, we must act swiftly Ramsey,” she contested. “We mustn’t give the evildoers a chance to get away.” Ramsey sighed, running a hand through his hair. (Percy noted that he seemed just as exhausted as she was the other day) He let out another sigh after a few moments of consideration.

“Fine, we can go tomorrow. No sooner though,” he compromised.

Percy flashed a smile and dried off the dishes before returning to the couch. She grabbed a folder, opening it up to view its contents. “So tell me what you have gotten so far.”


	5. The Soup and the Sheep

The rest of the day was just them running over the case and taking any new notes that might be helpful for the next day. Though, Percy seemed to be muttering over the fact their names seemed familiar. Ramsey didn’t pay too much attention to it because there were other things his attention would be focused on. That night they both fell asleep early (Percy in the bed and Ramsey on the couch despite Percy insisting he take the bed) so they would be fully recovered for their investigation tomorrow. 

They had a light breakfast and changed clothes (courtesy of the old clothes that Ramsey had kept there) before heading off into the barely lit dawn. During the hours’ drive, he kept looking at Percy, who was engrossed in the file in her lap. Ramsey just couldn’t help but admire how the light was reflecting off her hair- lighting up like an actual lion's mane- or how good she looked in his clothes. Maybe if they ever-

His face immediately heated up as he stopped himself from finishing that thought. That was not a thought you had about close friends or coworkers. Especially if you were (technically) a criminal thinking about a cop. Even if they were both on the run from the police, he knew that even after this she’d want to continue her work. And after this… Well, Ramsey wasn’t sure. But he did want to stay friends at least, Percy was someone who he knew he could trust and that he wanted to stay in touch. She was a good cop and person all the way down to her core.

(Oh _ FUCK _ his parole. Guess was a criminal again. Great.)

He made sure to take the back roads to the kids’ house to avoid any cops or people who might have recognized them. Percy was keeping her head low to help as well and Ramsey made a mental note to see if he could find her one of his old jackets to help for the future trips. He might have a few in the back somewhere.

Soon enough they made it to the Potage house. It was your typical suburban house with nothing seeming out of the ordinary. If you counted the herd of sheep surrounding the hedges normal. Percy raised an eyebrow, muttering about a violation of sorts, while Ramsey fought back laughter. 

“Come on, let’s get past the Baa-riers,” he joked. Percy looked annoyed but he could see the corners of her mouth twitch upwards in a smile. 

With little problems, other than the stray nibble, they made it to the door. Percy was the one who knocked on the door and waited. From within, a scratchy voice could be heard a moment after the knock. 

“Giovanni get the door!”

“I can’t right now, mom!” A male voice came from the second floor of the house.

“I’m busy!”

“SO AM I!”

“GIOVANNI DON’T RAISE YOUR VOICE TO YOUR MOTHER!”

“Well I’m busy and you’re closer!!” The two voices kept arguing as a pair of footsteps approached the door, though neither of the voices did. When the door was opened, they were greeted with a boy around the age of 15 with shoulder-length hair. He was also wearing large, rounded rimmed glasses that were pushed all the way up on his nose. 

“Dr. Ashling?” Percy asked bewildered. The boy blinked.

“Officer King?” She hesitantly nodded and they were both ushered in by the teenager. Miss Potage was sitting in front of the tv, staring at it. Luckily, it seemed that her argument with her son had died down and he was coming down the stairs. Once he saw the son, Ramsey automatically remembered where he remembered the name from.

“You!” They both shouted at the same time, pointing fingers at each other. Percy just gawked for a moment, shock written all over her face. Giovanni started to pull out a bat with a knife taped to it and Percy pulled her sword out. Sylvie looked completely lost as he watched what was going on. Ramsey had no idea what to do either. 

“Where’s Beartrap?! What did you do to her?!” Giovanni demanded, unphased by the sword.

“I don’t know who this ‘Beartrap’ is,” Percy said, “But you are a wanted criminal for the theft of the Arsene Amulet!”

“I don’t even have that anymore Police Lady!” the pink-haired teen shouted back. “And you know where Beartrap is because you kidnapped her! So tell us where you took her!” 

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Ramsey jumped between them, turning himself to gold to take any blows the kid might have tried swinging. Percy looked taken aback, while Giovanni looked like he wanted to hit something. Ramsey turned towards him. “Are you talking about that Molly kid?”

“Duh!” he pointed the knife/bat thing at them both. “Beartrap is my minion! And that lady stole her! Who the heck does that to a kid???”

“I don’t think she took her moron,” Sylvie protested from the sidelines. They all turned towards him with various degrees of surprise. He sighed and pushed his glasses (somehow) father upon his face. “Look, if she did kidnap Molly, what would be her reasoning?”

“Cause she’s a minion of the great Giovanni Potage!” the older teen proudly declared. Sylvie only sighed deeper. 

“No, because she wouldn’t have known that.”

“... Oh.”

“Besides,” he continued, “even if she did know about that, Officer King would have taken her down to the police station, not kidnap her. I can tell Miss King has a strict moral code as well, no way she’d ever take a child. Not without going through the proper channels anyway.”

Giovanni looked the woman up and down while Percy seemed shaken up by what the 15-year-old had said. Hell, Ramsey was surprised by how well thought out it was, way too mature for someone his age. With a loud huff, Giovanni put the bat down.

“Fine, okay I guess that makes sense,” he grumbled. “But if I so much as catch a whiff of shenanigans, you’ll have to answer to my Soul Slugger Doom Bat!” Ramsey sighed in relief when the kid put away the bat and he turned himself back to normal while Percy sheathed her sword. (He was surprised that Giovanni’s mom didn’t come in to see what the commotion was about)

“So why are you here?” Giovanni asked, lightly glaring at the two. “I didn’t think you’d sell me out to a cop again, Rat Man.” 

“Again, I didn’t know it was you,” Ramsey defended himself. “We’re here to ask about that kid.”

“You mean Molly right?” Sylvie asked. “Are you looking into what happened?” Percy nodded. 

“We believe that I may have been framed for her kidnapping due to a case I’ve been working on,” she admitted.

“What kind of case?” Giovanni butted in.

“Ya ever heard of Inscribed Trafficking?” Ramsey asked. Both of the teens grew pale.

“You think she was kidnapped because she’s Inscribed?” the orange-haired boy slowly said.

“We were hoping you could tell us what happened that day,” Percy gently told them. “And the last time both of you have heard from her. It could help us establish a timeline.” The two looked at each other (well Giovanni looking down and Sylvie looking up) before nodding.

“Yeah. Yeah, we’ll tell you, but only if we can help you find her,” Giovanni bargained. Percy was about to protest when he continued. “Beartrap is my minion! She’s one of my boys! I can’t just let these people get away with taking one of my boys! Besides, I’ve been worried sick about her and won’t sit and let some copper find her while I sit on my ass!” 

“You ain’t gonna change his mind,” Ramsey told Percy. She nodded.

“Alright, but you are to stay out of danger when the time for arresting comes.”

“Yeah yeah sure whatever,” Giovanni grumbled.

“So what happened?” Ramsey asked again. Sylvie looked to Giovanni before clearing his throat.

“Well, about four days ago I had gone over to Molly’s because she wasn’t at the hospital when I was released…”

* * *

_ Sylvester Ashling walked through the streets of Sweet Jazz city, avoiding the people that walked by him. He was lost in thought as he walked, his steps holding a hint of uncertainty and worry.  _

She wouldn’t have just forgotten right? She promised she’d be there when I was released,  _ he thought to himself,  _ Molly  _ is _ a friend, she said she wanted to be friends. She said so.  _ These thoughts continued until he stopped in front of a toy shop with a familiar logo. Sylvie pulled out the business card Molly had given him to compare the logos. After confirming he was at the right place, Sylvie pushed the door open and stepped into the store, expecting to be greeted with a “Hello” from Molly. _

_ … Only there was no greeting. It was dead silent. Sylvie looked around to find that there was no one in the store. The lights were off too. He was confused, thinking that maybe Molly had gone on a late lunch, so he went towards the back where Molly had described a staircase that led up to the home. He hoped that the owner, Molly’s shit father, wouldn’t be upset if he even noticed him at all. _

_ It took a few moments after knocking before the door opened to reveal a man Sylvie recognized as Molly’s father. He was average height, blond hair with stars in his beard. He blinked at the teen before grinning. _

_ “Hello, there little boy! What are you doing up here? The store’s downstairs!” _

_ Ignoring the flash of anger at being called a “little boy”, Sylvie spoke, “I was wondering where Molly was. I’m a friend of hers.” _

_ “Molly? Uh, she was over at that soup kid’s place last I knew,” he admitted. “Though I thought she was in the store…” Sylvie felt more anger build up in him at the man’s words. He wasn’t even sure of where his own daughter was. He wanted nothing more than to summon Beefton at that moment and let the bull deck the man square in the face, but Sylvie kept his cool. He let out a “Hm” then walked out of the store. Her father didn’t even seem to care at all.  _

_ Without another word, he called a cab to the Bonzai Captain’s house. He had known about it because Molly had let it slip where he lived during one of her visits to the hospital. It didn’t take too long to get there, but Sylvie kept tapping his fingers to try to let out the nervous energy he was feeling. He didn’t know what was going on but something just felt wrong. _

_ As soon as he got to the door, Sylvie knocked (harder than he should have) and waited. Within a few seconds, a hurried pair of footsteps could be heard approaching the door. Said door flew open to reveal Giovanni in a jacket.  _

_ “Beartr-” His face fell into a scowl when he saw Sylvie. “Ugh, it’s just you. What-” _

_ “Where’s Molly?” The younger teen blurted out. Giovanni blinked, scowling more.  _

_ “Well, she’s not here, but why-” _

_ “Her dad said she was here,” Sylvie interrupted again now feeling fear take hold of him. “But if she’s not here, or at the store, and didn’t come to the hospital…” Giovanni’s face now reflected Sylvie’s fear as the situation finally sunk into him. _

_ “Where’s Beartrap?” _

* * *

“And when we went back to that piece of shit,” Giovanni concluded, “He admitted he didn’t know where Molly was at all. Or how long it had been since he saw her.”

“Sister was in the same predicament,” Sylvie added.

Ramsey was completely horrified by this news. Sure he knew that there was something wrong in that house, that much was obvious from the police report, but he didn’t think it was as bad as it was being described to him. Percy was also equally horrified by this revelation and her hands were even shaking slightly.

“That’s…” Percy gulped. (Though Ramsey thought he heard pure anger in her voice. He wrote it off as just him projecting his own rising anger.) “That’s…”

“Jeez, that poor kid,” Ramsey muttered. Sylvie turned to Percy, the glint in his glasses obscuring his eyes. 

In a dark tone, the younger teen said, “tell us what you have so far on the way to wherever it is you’re hiding out.”

”


	6. Hit the Ground Running

They all piled into Ramsey's car (Sylvie asking if he could even drive) and headed back to the cabin. The entire drive there, Giovanni bombarded the adults with questions about the case- if there were any other victims, if there were anymore leads, where was Beartrap, why would they try to frame you, so where were you guys living,  _ where was Beartrap?? _ Sylvie stayed quiet most of the time as he went over the files Percy had brought with them. 

The rest of the day pretty much went the same way but Giovanni was a bit quieter since he was reading the files as well. Percy was also explaining how everything had gone down and how she had come across the case while Ramsey cooked some food for everyone. By the time everyone had been brought up to speed the sun was already setting. From there, the sleeping arrangements had to be made. After some arguing between him and Percy, (because Percy was standing firm that she shouldn’t take his bed) it was decided that Sylvie and Giovanni would sleep out in the living room while Percy and Ramsey would take the bedroom. 

Luckily, the bed was large enough for both of them to sleep in it without getting into the others’ personal space. That didn’t stop Ramsey from waking up the next morning with Percy’s head on his chest. The rat man had no idea how this had happened but let himself enjoy the feeling for a moment before untangling from her. He was careful not to wake her as he did. Once out of the bed, he quietly grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to go get changed. On the way, he looked back at Percy’s sleeping form.

_ Her bedhead is so cute, _ he thought to himself. He shook himself out of his thoughts and headed into the bathroom.  _ Stop, staring is creepy. _ Ramsey changed his clothes and headed into the living room. On one of the chairs slept Sylvie while the couch was taken up by Giovanni’s form. Both of them were still fast asleep so Ramsey decided to work on breakfast. 

Not long before he finished it, everyone started to wake up because, presumably, the smell or the noise he was making. Or both. Sylvie was the first to wake up while Giovanni was the last. Ramsey had to suppress a chuckle when Percy came out of the bedroom, looking as professional as she could. Very much like her.

Everyone ate the food and they started to discuss what to do next. It was unanimous that they check out the warehouse that Percy had been lured to because it might have been connected in some way to the ring. After eating, they all began to get ready, grabbing whatever it was they might have needed and piled into the car.

“What’s this for?” Percy asked after Ramsey handed her a jacket. He shrugged. 

“It’ll help you hide your face if need be,” he explained. 

“I can vouch for that!” Giovanni piped up from the back seat. Percy looked at it for a moment before putting it on. 

“Very well.”

When they got close to the warehouse, Percy pulled the hood up over her head. They stayed in the car for a while just to make sure no one was around or would see them going in. When they made sure of this, they headed towards the building. As they walked, Ramsey examined the building fully.

It was your typical abandoned warehouse- a slightly crumbling ceiling, paint peeling from the walls, weeds growing up and around the entire thing. Ramsey did take note of the couple garage doors that were dented for some reason lost to time. There were also a few gaping holes in the walls, leaving the inside open to the elements. The door was unlocked (lock probably was broken from the years) so it was easy to get inside. 

The inside looked even more spooky, if not spookier than the outside. There were a few leftover boxes pushed to the wall, decayed and moldy, leaving the air smelling heavy with a musky smell. Above the boxes hung rickety metal walkways that would definitely break if a feather landed on it. Large pillars were the structures least affected by time, still standing tall to hold the crumbling ceiling with only the slightest hints at cracks in the concrete. 

Ramsey whistled. “Huge place,” he remarked. “Though hopefully, it won’t take long to search.” 

“LET’S GET SEARCHING,” Giovanni shouted as he ran off. Sylvie sighed and put his hands into his pockets.

“Lets each take a corner and work our way to the middle,” Percy dictated. “Call out if you find anything.” With both of them nodding, the three went their separate ways to work.

It didn’t take long for them to start calling out to the others. The signs were obvious that people had been living there: food wrappers, stirred dust, hell Ramsey even found a forgotten sleeping bag. However, just as Ramsey made it to the center of the warehouse, Sylvie called out to them.

“Guys! I found something!” Giovanni was almost instantly over to the younger teen like he teleported while Ramsey and Percy ran over to see what was discovered. When they got there, they found Sylvie holding up a brown hoodie with little ears on the hood. As soon as Giovanni saw it, he started to freak out.

“That’s Beartrap’s!! That’s her hoodie!” he was practically wailing. “She’d never take that off, her mom made that for her!” 

“This is hers,” Sylvie confirmed. Though he was trying to hide it, Ramsey could hear the slight tremor in the orange-haired teen’s voice. “She was here alright.”

“Then where is she now??” Giovanni demanded as if the hoodie would give them answers.

“If we haven’t found anything in here, we should look outside,” Percy suggested. “There may be some clues as to where they may have gone. A piece of paper or tire tracks, things like that.” They nodded and quickly headed towards the back of the building.

Once there, Giovanni again teleported to something on the ground. He looked at it for a few moments before he picked it up off the ground. Ramsey expected a rock or cloth or something other than what was presented. It was a pastel star about the size of his thumbnail that one would have thought would be a hairpin but there weren’t any of the pin parts to it.

“It’s Beartrap’s,” Giovanni explained. “These grow in her hair.” (Ramsey silently made an “Ew” noise)

“Do you think she left it here for us to find,” Percy asked. Sylvie nodded.

“Most likely,” he agreed. “But I’m not sure why just the one.”

“Way ahead of you, four-eyes,” Giovanni gloated. “There's a trail of marshmallow-like stars leading off in the distance.”

“While that's all well and good," Ramsey interjected, "but how are we supposed to follow it on foot? We're not exactly inconspicuous." 

Sylvie piped up, "I may have a solution to that." He waved his arms and a small light yellow colored sheep materialized. Sylvie took the star from Giovanni before holding it out to the sheep. It sniffed at it for a few moments before letting out a “baa”. It started off, going at a decent pace while the shorter teen turned to the rest of the group. “It should follow any left behind.” 

“Alright!” Giovanni cheered. “Let’s go find Beartrap!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strange note, but if anyone is interested in seeing some scenes drawn, I'm always welcome for asks on my Tumblr! I'll actually be posting one from this chapter if you'd like to check it out!  
> https://millicent-dagworth.tumblr.com/


	7. The Plot Thickens

“WHY ARE WE STOPPING HERE?!”

Ramsey’s hearing nearly gave out when Giovanni practically screeched. The sun had long since fallen below the horizon. Not long before the sheep had stopped, not being able to find any more stars, but they continued on the road which, luckily, didn’t seem to have any forks. Once he saw that Sylvie was starting to fall asleep in the backseat (despite his complaints that he wasn’t), it was decided that they would stop somewhere for the night and rest. And so here there were, at the first crappy hotel that came up.

“Look, kid, we all need to rest,” Ramsey said as he started to get out, “There’s no more stars, Glasses is about to fall asleep, and we’re all hungry. We rest, eat, get clean, and head out tomorrow. Not necessarily in that order.”

“But Bear Trap-!” 

“She sounds like a smart kid. I hate saying this, but she’ll be okay one more day,” the older man assured him. The teen looked like he wanted to say more, but nodded quietly. Ramsey then got out and paid for a cheap, but decent, room. Unfortunately, there were only two beds again. Hopefully, he didn’t end up cuddling with anyone in the morning. He gave Percy the key to let them go get settled in while Ramsey went to go grab some food from the Chinese place across the way. 

On the way there, he saw a vending machine with some drinks. Deciding that an energy drink would be a good help, he started looking through his wallet for extra change. Something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He looked, slightly worried it might have been someone wanting to rob him, only to see some teen huddled in the corner. He couldn’t have been much older than Sylvie, and it was obvious the kid hadn’t showered in possibly months. (Though it wasn’t hard to tell he was Taiga under all the dirt) His purple hair was matted and clung to together in rats’ nests while his clothes were torn and frayed at the ends. His feet were probably calloused and had scabs, since he had no shoes on them. Ramsey felt a pang of empathy at the sight, remembering how hard it was for him when he first ran away from home. 

“Hey,” Ramsey called out to the kid. He nearly jumped a foot in the air and before Ramsey could blink, pulled a knife out on him. The ratman’s hands went straight up, his body instinctively turning to gold. “Whoa whoa whoa!”

“I-I haven’t told anyone what I saw!” the boy nearly shouted. “I-I haven’t-”

“Kid, I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Ramsey tried calming him down, “I was just going to see if you wanted some money for a place to stay the night.” The boy’s gaze turned uncertain but kept the knife pointed at the taller man.

“W-why would you offer someone like me money?” he demanded. 

Ramsey hesitated slightly before speaking, “Cause I know what it’s like being on the run and homeless. It’s not fun sleeping out in the open with no sense of security. No kid should live like that.” After a few moments of silence, the kid lowered the knife. Ramsey let out his breath and turned himself back to normal. The kid hung his head in shame. 

“S-sorry,” he muttered, “I-I’m just…” Ramsey hesitated a moment before patting the kid’s extremely greasy hair. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured the boy, “Anyone would have done the same thing. At least you didn’t stab me.” The boy chuckled a bit before looking down and biting his bottom lip.

“I’ve just… Been so paranoid since… since that night Kenny got nabbed…” Ramsey felt something wilt in him when he heard the words. It was a story he had heard so many times but knew that nothing would probably come with it. He would still tell Percy though and maybe after all of this was over they could look into this. “T-they said that he would fetch a high price with his Epithet too…” 

Ramsey stiffened at the words, thinking it was too much of a coincidence. Yet if it wasn’t it could be a huge clue and help them find these guys. “These guys you saw, think you could tell me about them?” he asked. With a wink, he added, “I can give ya some extra money for the info, kid.”

By the time the red-haired man made it back to the room with some Chinese take out, the rest of the party had settled down around the tv. It looked like they had all taken time to freshen up as well. Molly’s jacket was being held by Giovanni who looked incredibly guilty. When he walked in with the food, everyone turned towards him and he triumphantly raised the bags up high. 

“It’s present time!” he joked. Once they all started eating, Ramsey revealed what he had found out.

From what the kid, Cody, had said, about a week ago his friend Kenny had been kidnapped by some guys in a blue van. Kenny had told Cody to hide, since he was a Mundie. Cody then watched as three guys surrounded Kenny and subdued him. He had mentioned that they put some cuffs on them that seemed to stop the other teen from using his Epithet, so these guys probably had some Eraser cuffs. They knocked out the kid and threw him into the back of the van before driving off. By some miracle, Cody memorized the license plate number and told Ramsey.

“We’ll need a way to run the number,” Percy mumbled after a bite. 

“What about one of your cop friends?” Giovanni suggested. Percy sighed, probably about to refute it, when Ramsey interrupted her.

“There’s Meryl,” he pointed out, “She did warn us about the warrant.”

Percy stared at her food, a guilty look on her face. Surprisingly quiet, she said, “I do not wish to get her anymore involved than I have.”

“I can call her,” Sylvie said, chiming in, “They wouldn’t have my phone tagged and I’ll put her on speaker so we can all talk to her.” Percy reluctantly agreed and gave the number for the teen phycologist to dial. It only took a few rings for the phone to be answered.

“Hello, this is Officer Lockhart, what can I do for you?”

“Heya Meryl,” Ramsey greeted. “It’s Murdoch. We uh, kind of need a favor.”

“One moment please.” The boys raised an eyebrow at Percy, who motioned for Sylvie to turn the volume down. After about a minute of silence, the sound of a door shutting came through the call. Suddenly, the customer service voice fell from the woman’s voice as she yelled, “Is Percy there?? Is she okay?? What happened??” 

Ramsey raised his other eyebrow at Percy who started to smile, albeit with her head in her hands. “I’m fine Meryl,” she said.

“Oh thank god!” Meryl sighed in relief. “But are you okay?? When they said they couldn’t find you and I didn’t hear anything from you I got worried! Wait, I don’t recognize this number. Did you steal someone’s phone??”

“Of course not!” Percy objected.

“It’s my phone,” Sylvie interjected, “Me and Giovanni are helping them find Molly. We’re her friends.” Another relieved sigh came from over the speakers. 

“That’s good. But what happened? What’s going on??” Ramsey and Percy did their best to get the anxiety-ridden bean (Percy’s words surprisingly) to calm down in between the questions. “So you need me to break the law to help you find the owner of this van??”

“You don’t have to-”

“Cause I will!!”

“Only do it if you’re fully on board with this,” Percy warned. “You could get in real trouble for this.”

“I know… but we’re police officers! We’re supposed to find criminals and get justice for the innocent! I’ll start running the plates now.” There was typing in the background as Meryl quickly entered the information into the computer. “Is the vehicle a blue van?”

“Yes, that’s the one,” Percy confirmed.

“Well, it looks like it was in the downtown district.” Ramsey should almost hear Percy’s heart speed up.

“That’s near where the victim was last seen,” she said.

“Oh my gosh…! Looks like the owner’s name is Stewart Craig. Oh! I gotta go, boss is here, good luck!” And with that, the call cut off.

“I can run a quick search on the man,” Percy said. “From there we can come up with a plan for tomorrow which will include talking to him about that van.” 

“Alright, time to shower,” Ramsey commented before walking towards the bathroom.

* * *

At some point in the night, Ramsey woke up to the sound of the door opening. He was worried, already turning his knuckles to gold, but relaxed when he saw it was just Percy. She held a water bottle in her hand so he figured she had gone out to get it. (Though it was probably more for the fresh air)

She turned away from him, placing the drink on the table. Percy then started to take off her jacket, dragging her undershirt with it. Ramsey wanted to look away, he really did, but something on her left shoulder blade caught his eye.

To the man’s complete shock, it was a tattoo he saw.

The design was a bit worn, meaning it was an old one. He could tell how intricate the design was despite the low light. It depicted a snake curled around a gun with a few roses around them. The gun, from what he could tell, looked similar to the model Zora carried. The tail of the snake was curled around the grip with the body going through the trigger guard and winding around the barrel until it was poised at the muzzle, fangs bared. Three rose-like flowers were placed around the gun and snake, maybe to add more flare to it. Though they looked less worn than the rest of the tattoo.

“That’s some tattoo,” Ramsey blurted out. It wasn’t loud enough to wake the two sleeping teens but was loud enough for Percy to hear.

In the blink of an eye, she whirled around, jacket now put back on fully. Her normally bright gaze was steely and serious, her jaw locked in a firm scowl. Ramsey felt his heart leap to his throat at the sight. After a few moments, the look went away and Percy’s shoulders sagged.

“I didn’t know you were awake,” she admitted quietly.

“Well I am now,” he joked. When the blonde’s expression turned guilty, he felt bad. “Don’t worry about it Perce, I’m fine.” She looked to the side while keeping the same look on her face. Ramsey sat up and patted the bed next to him. Percy hesitated before sitting next to him. It took a few moments before he spoke up, “So the tattoo-”

“It’s nothing,” she interrupted, “A remnant of a past mistake.” 

“So, Miss Fuzz had a rebellious streak,” the ratman teased. Percy glared at him again and he quickly backtracked. “It looks good Percy, real good.” 

She slightly relaxed again. “Thank you, Ramsey.”

“No problem Perce,” he said. Silence lapsed between them again, less awkward this time and more of them just enjoying each other's company. After a few minutes, Ramsey decided to speak up again. “So did you enjoy your walk outside?” She nodded, taking a sip from her water bottle. 

“I’ve found that the night air is a good time to think,” Percy admitted. “It’s a lot quieter and lets me think clearly without people interrupting me.”

“The sky’s pretty beautiful too,” Ramsey added, “Real therapeutic to just sit outside for hours and paint.”

“I’ve never actually painted,” she said.

“After all of this you should try it,” he suggested, “I’ll even give you the Murdoch guarantee.” They both chuckled at the joke, only to be interrupted by Ramsey yawning. 

Percy’s mouth twitched upwards in an amused smile, “We should head to bed. Early morning and all.”

“Alright alright, but you have to go to bed too,” he said. She nodded and maneuvered over to the other side of the bed while Ramsey laid down.

“Goodnight, Ramsey,” Percy said. Ramsey muttered a ‘good night’ as he drifted off to sleep, dreaming about starry nights and lightning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sudden drop in the chapter postings. I'm working on the final 2 and they are going to be looooooooooong ones. So it's taking a while to finish them.   
> Another thing I am going to say is that, originally, there wasn't supposed to be chapters with trigger warnings. However, as it turns out, 12 and 13 will both end up being trigger warnings for the descriptions of violence. I will be posting chapter summaries beforehand so if violence upsets you, you can skip the parts without missing any parts of the story. I will also be putting Trigger Warnings before the parts within the story and putting them at the end of the parts.   
> Final thing, Percy's backstory is loosely based on @breadthecat 's post on Tumblr labeled Little Secrets. Here's the post link: https://breadthecat.tumblr.com/post/190758501532/little-secrets It is a great post that I love and I loved the idea of Percy having a tattoo and the implications of some sort of ex-gang background. Me and WriterzBlock did create a backstory for her based on this. It will end up being revealed in chapter 10, so we're pretty close to it.   
> Anyway, I do hope you'll enjoy this chapter!


	8. Quiet Revelations

The next day, Percy insisted that the boys stay at the hotel while they go to interview the owner of the van. She didn’t want them to be seen with her, just in case the guy recognized her, to give them plausible deniability about the case. To make them feel like they weren’t just sitting there doing nothing, she left her computer with them to look up more information about the guy. The guy lived along the edges of the Desert county, so it wouldn’t take long to drive there. The trip there was quiet, Percy drumming her fingers on the wheel while trying not to get lost in her thoughts for too long. Ramsey tried to help, but the conversation just kept dying.

Soon enough, they made it to the property which was basically a run-down shack. The windows were attached to broken shutters that looked like they were only being held on by a single screw. The paint was peeling in large chunks, revealing the half-rotten wood beneath. Even the front steps leading up to the home had multiple broken boards that were dangerous safety hazards. Percy felt her stomach turn at the sight of the architectural nightmare.

“You ready?” Ramsey asked from beside her. The blonde steeled her nerves and nodded. They headed up to the door and knocked. (Percy inwardly flinching at how the wood bent under her fist) The man who eventually opened the door was a tall man, taller than Ramsey was, with greasy black hair. He squinted at them like he needed eyewear but refused to get any. 

“What do you want?” he sneered. 

“Is your name Stewart Craig?” Ramsey asked.

“What’s it to you, ugly?”

“We’re here to talk to you about your van,” Percy said ignoring the flash of anger at the slight towards her friend. “Where is it currently?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” the man snapped. “I won’t talk to some dishwasher and it’s not like you’re dirty cops.” Percy felt an all too familiar flame of anger start to be brought back to life and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop the immediate...  _ remark _ from coming out. She mentally counted down from ten before she trusted herself to speak.

“It’s been connected to crimes of kidnapping and human trafficking,” Percy told him. “We need to know where it is so those who are-”

“Unless you have a warrant, I don’t have to tell you anything,” Stewart interrupted her. Percy’s eyebrow twitched in irritation. “Maybe you should stick to the kitchen sweetheart.”

Percy couldn’t hide her ever-growing anger from entering her voice as she spoke next, “Well, it would help us find and rescue a child who has been missing for over a week.”

“Well then doesn’t that just mean it’s dead?” 

The police officer audibly heard a snap within her ears as she landed a hit square in the man's face. He let out a pained yelp as he stumbled back but Percy followed, kicking him in the kneecap to get him down on one knee. When Stewart tried to grab his newly injured knee, she took the opportunity to knee him in the face once again. There was a satisfying crack heard in the air as his head snapped back, and his now broken nose started to gush blood. She had forgotten how good it felt to let go and let her anger take control. He went to grab at his nose as he hit the ground and Percy grabbed his shirt, arm reeled back to land another punch in his face. 

But a hand grabbed her closed fist, stopping her. Percy turned her anger towards the new person only to be face to face with a wide-eyed Ramsey. It took a split moment for the woman to see how scared he looked, scared of her and what she was doing. She then realized what she had done and horror filled her. Percy looked back to Stewart to see his eyes wide with horror and fear which only made even more guilt settle into her stomach. She had given in to her anger, and old habits she thought she had nipped in the bud years ago took control of her life. But here she was, an officer of the law, attacking someone over a few comments because she couldn’t keep her temper in check.

She opened her mouth to apologize, to say anything, but nothing came out. It felt too dry to get anything out. 

“My friend has it, King!” Stewart blurted out. “I don’t know what she’s doing with it but I can give you a name!”

“What’s the name?” Ramsey demanded.

“Emily Pennington!” He yelled in desperation. “Please just- just get King off me!”

It was feeling incredibly stuffy suddenly and Percy felt like hyperventilating. Without another word to either of them, she let Stewart go (his head hitting the wood hard enough for her to hear) and quickly rushed to the car. She got into the passenger side, nearly slamming the door, and started counting down in her head. Percy was so focused on it that she didn’t even notice it when Ramsey got into the car, she only noticed it when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She jerked her head up to see his concerned look.

“Hey, you okay doll?” he gently asked. “That was quite the stunt you pulled.” 

“I’m sorry,” she basically blurted out. “It was out of line, I shouldn’t have- I thought I had grown out of that-” He put his other hand on her other shoulder and turned her towards him.

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down,” he comforted her, “Just take some deep breaths. Also, don’t feel too bad, the guy was a grade-A piece of shit. And that’s a professional appraiser’s opinion.” A strangled laugh came out of her at the joke, it helped release some of the tension in her. “You don’t have to explain what happened, I just want to know if you’re okay.”

“... I will be,” she eventually said. “We should head back to the hotel room.” Ramsey looked uncertain but still started the drive back. After a bit, with guilt eating away at her again, Percy spoke up again. “I’m sorry about what happened. I should have controlled my temper.” When the man stayed silent, her guilt only grew and wondered if he was considering turning her in. 

“Ya know, I never knew my mother,” Ramsey began. Percy was surprised and opened her mouth to question him about what he was going on about, yet closed it again when it was obvious he had something to say. “All I have is a name and I don’t even know if it’s true. But my old man wasn’t the best either. All he cared about was money and my sister because of her Epithet. When her Epithet manifested, he started locking her in his movie studio and refused to let her out. If I tried to help her, I’d get locked away in my room too. Used to fly off the handle when his business wasn’t ‘getting enough’. Got real bad when my sister disappeared, so when I turned 16 I ran away.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously. “My point is that you’re not a bad person for punching a sexist jackass who deserved it when my old man couldn’t care less about abusing his own children for decades. You’re a good person, Percy, through and through.”

Percy stared at Ramsey, shocked by his words. She had expected him to be revolted by what she did or even just tell her to keep a lid on her anger better. But he didn’t. He comforted her, trying to let her know that she wasn’t alone and that feeling anger didn’t make her a bad person. That, even if it was against the law, the guy deserved it by the horrible things he said. A warmth spread throughout her chest, stomping out all the guilt and shame in her stomach as she felt herself smile at him. Ramsey made her feel loved.

And it was one of the reasons she loved him.

She blinked, surprised by how naturally the thought had come to her. But it was true. Percy was in love with Ramsey. She didn’t know when it started or when it had turned into love. But here she was, on the run while solving an Inscribed trafficking case to help save people and find a little girl, with someone she trusted and loved with all her soul. 

“Thank you Ramsey,” Percy said with a soft smile. There would be time to talk about it later once this was all over. For now though, there was a case to solve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since I've never seen the Anime Campaign, Ramsey's backstory is based on the limited information of it on the wiki mixed in with what we think happened that night. There may be more detail added to his story later on in the fic (Or even a sequel).


	9. Fuck This Chapter Title

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who have some triggers on domestic abuse, there is some descriptions of it in this chapter. It's nothing too heavy or descriptive, but it is there. It is going to be the part where Ramsey explains his past history with Emily to Percy.  
> (Emily is also a Concannon character and is someone I came up with for this fic)
> 
> I also have no clue how but the last two chapters, somehow, got out of order. This one is supposed to be before Past Wounds. I'm sorry for the mix up.

The entire way back to the hotel, Ramsey could not stop yelling at himself. He meant to just say something about how abusive parents don’t apologize for what they do and how she’s not a bad person for beating the shit out of a guy that needed it. Instead, he almost told her his entire life story. 

_ Smooth move, Murdoch,  _ Ramsey bitterly thought to himself as he focused on the road.  _ Way to unload your emotional baggage onto someone who doesn’t need more.  _

He glanced over to his companion, hoping that he hadn’t made her feel any worse. To his surprise, Percy was actually smiling to herself. A really bright smile that made him want to lean over and-  _ Okay shutting the fuck up now,  _ he quickly stopped the thought. To hopefully stop him from thinking about how cute the person sitting less than 5 feet away from him was, Ramsey turned his thoughts back to the name they got. 

Emily Pennington. A name that left a sour taste in his mouth. Especially considering their… history.

Ramsey tried to take a drink of his water to help get the bad taste in his mouth. It didn’t help, probably because the taste was in his head and not actually real. But it did help distract him a bit. He didn’t have any more… weird thoughts about Percy the rest of the drive back. (Even if it was harder than he wanted to admit)

By the time they had gotten to the hotel, it was about noon. While the adults were gone, the two teens had found out that Stewart had apparently declared bankruptcy due to “outside interventions”. Despite this, he was still able to somehow keep his house and van because of some loophole his lawyer had found. The lawyer that was suggested to him by Emily Pennington. 

To reward the two for their hard work, Ramsey gave them some money to go pick out whatever food they wanted as long as they brought some back for the two of them. Bickering about what food to get, Giovanni wanted pizza and Sylvie wanted sandwiches, the two went on their way. Percy sat down with the laptop and started typing. Ramsey glanced over her shoulder to snoop into what she was doing, to see that she was looking Emily up. He felt his stomach churn a bit and turned away.

“Is something the matter?” she asked without looking up from the screen. Ramsey mulled it over in his head, not really knowing what to say. In the end, he decided to just be truthful and tell it to her straight.

“I have some history with this Emily chick,” he admitted. Percy tipped her head but didn’t look at him.

“Was she someone you conned?” 

“Not exactly,” he slowly said, “It’s more of that she’s…. an ex of mine.” At this, the woman paused in her typing before turning to him. There was something in her blue eyes that he couldn’t tell what it was but it tugged at something in him. 

“You were in a relationship with this woman?” she asked. Ramsey nodded. 

“Yeah, at least, before I realized how batshit crazy she was,” he continued. “She was getting into some really bad things that I didn’t want to be a part of. I tried to say no one day and she just… lost it. Started throwing things at me- dishes, furniture, anything she could get her hands on and throw. It was… bad.” He shuddered at the memory. “I… got terrified and agreed. Suddenly, it was like a light switch had flipped and she was acting like nothing had happened. Like she wasn’t just throwing everything I owned at me, that it was just a normal thing to do. That was when I realized how insane she was.”

“Was that all?” Percy carefully inquired.

“... Well I did do my con on her,” he finally said, “She was the CEO of a large company at the time. When I first met her and during… everything, I thought she was different from a lot of the big corporate owners. In the end, she was worse than anyone else.” He chuckled a little. “I should have realized it when we started dating. I never did have a good track record with relationships.”

“Well, maybe that was because you never allowed yourself to be surrounded by good people,” Percy eventually said. Ramsey raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking her to continue. “What I mean is that, when you were on the run, you were constantly only affiliating yourself with other criminals and hooligans. But ever since Redwood Run, you’ve stopped doing that. You’ve been affiliating with other people that have brought the good out in you.” She paused. “If you don’t mind me saying that.”

“I don’t mind,” Ramsey told her. The corners of his mouth kept twitching upwards in a smile. Her words were kind, too kind for someone like him. “Thank you, Percy. You’re too sweet.”

She smiled at him, bright and bubbly. Ramsey felt her contagious smile infecting him and a smile spread across his face. Everything about her was contagious to Ramsey, from her attitude to her excitement to everything. She was his bright light in this strange world and he would gladly follow her to the ends of the world and back. Because he loved her.

Ramsey stiffened at the thought. Luckily Percy didn’t seem to notice as she had turned back to the laptop. He could not believe what he just thought. He had been trying to stop those sorts of thoughts from coming into his mind. But it had and it just… clicked. It seemed so right. Being in love with Percy.

She saved him that day in Redwood Run. Both literally and figuratively. Ever since he had started working with the cops, he found it as fulfilling as when he signed away the profits to charities. And when he was put on parole and started working more frequently with Percy, he was drawn to her. She was so witty and charming and just… Percy. Sure her Epithet was cool, but that wasn’t her entire personality. He loved her drive and her determination. Seeing her look so proud and satisfied when they caught the perp was something he loved seeing. She cared about people and wanted to help them, even if it put her own health on the line. Percy was Percy and he loved everything about her.

Without another word, he laid back on the bed staring up at the ceiling. Ramsey had his hands in front of him like he was thinking in the middle of a business meeting. The only thing he was thinking about though were his own screams. As much as he would have loved to tell Percy how he felt, there was still the fact about what was going on and the fact that she deserved someone better than him. He had broken the law so many times and had done some really shitty things.

“Are you alright Ramsey?” Percy asked. Ramsey nodded, trying not to look at her. She had gotten insanely good at reading him and he didn’t know if he could tell her.

“Yup,” he squeaked out, “Just fine, doll.” He spared a glance at the woman, only to regret it when he saw how adorable her freckles looked in the afternoon light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more thing before we end this chapter, I'd like to explain why Ramsey is thinking the way he is about Emily. She is not crazy. This is a manipulation tactic used by abusers. The reason Ramsey believes that she is insane is that he did not see it as manipulation (ironically). He still does not see it as such. This will change once Percy points it out to him.  
> There is a possibility that I will introduce that she has undiagnosed Bipolar, but I want to make it clear that just because someone has this does not make them crazy or insane. Or even an abuser. Even if Emily were to go on medication or get help for it, she would still be a manipulative abuser at the end of the day.


	10. Past Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering, the chapters somehow got out of order and Past Wounds got ahead of Fuck This Chapter Title. So this one is chapter 10 while 9 was supposed to be Fuck This Chapter Title. Sorry for the mix-up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so warning is because Emily is extremely pushy and pervy towards Ramsey, who is completely shutting her down. I don't know if anyone would be triggered by this, but the only thing you would be missing by skipping that part would be that Emily lets it slip that she knows Stewart even though they didn't say his name. (Also that she thinks he's married because he wears a ring on his finger, but this won't come into play until the next chapter)
> 
> Also, good news! Chapter 13 is done and chapter 14 is well underway! So hopefully the rest of the chapters can come out in a reasonable fashion! I will warn you all ahead of time though, in google docs, chapter 13 is a loooooooooooooooooooong one. It is over 5000 words long. But It is a good one with a quote that I'm quite happy about. So I hope you all will be able to stay with until the end!

Sometime later, the door opened to reveal the two teens had returned carrying pizza boxes. Giovanni was looking smug while the shorter teen kept his irritated gaze hidden behind his glasses. Ramsey wasn’t entirely sure of where they got it from but he also didn’t want to know in case they stole it from someone. Though, since Sylvie seemed to dislike crime so much the chance of that happening was slim. Ramsey still didn’t want to ask.

“So what do we do next?” Giovanni asked over his pizza.

“We found out where this Emily Pennington lives,” Percy told them. “We can head there and ask her about the van.”

“We shouldn’t all go there,” Sylvie piped in, “Seeing four unknown people might scare her.”

Ramsey gulped, “She knows me. She’s an Ex.” The boy paused for a moment before speaking.

“Still. She might also know Percy if she’s behind this and I don’t think she’d open up to a couple of teens about it,” he continued. “If she has a vendetta against Ramsey, she’d be more likely to open the door. And if that happens, I doubt baseball here would calm the situation down.”

“Hey!”

“Are you suggesting that you and Ramsey go up to the door?” Percy asked. 

He nodded, “Yes. I am a licensed therapist and psychologist. It would make the most sense.” Percy looked hesitant before nodding.

“As long as she does not know you’re Inscribed,” she told him. Sylvie promised that it would not happen, and they all got into the car as Percy suggested that they should stake out Emily’s house so that if she was suspicious and they had to go back, there wouldn’t be a chance for her to get away. It was a smart plan from a smart person that Ramsey couldn’t disagree with it. (Not that he would)

She lived in the Taiga country, deep in the forest. One of the first things that showed up on her search were records of an arrest from a few months ago. It was something to do with stalking and assault, which strengthened their suspicions. Ramsey kept fiddling with the ring on his finger as he hoped that she didn’t try to kill him. Again.

“It’ll be alright,” Percy comforted him. He smiled at the hand she put on his shoulder. It was a familiar touch that he was getting used to over the last week or so. And he hated admitting that he didn’t want it to stop.

“Thanks, Perce.” 

Within an hour, they had stopped a few houses down from Emily’s to make sure she couldn’t outright see that it was theirs. Ramsey got out, smoothing back his red hair to make himself more presentable. Sylvie did the same but with his jacket.

“If you need any help, just yell batter up,” Giovanni said with a grin. Ramsey responded with a thumbs up while Sylvie gave him a confused look. All Giovanni did was hold up a ball of yarn in response. Ramsey and Percy shrugged before he headed off to the house with the psychologist

The house was a decent home: neatly trimmed hedge fence, a good-sized white porch, gold-painted siding. There was a second story with a round window in, probably, the attic. There was also a large window on the first floor facing the street, but luckily the curtains blocked any views into the home.

“What kind of relationship did you two have?” Sylvie asked after the doorbell was rung.

Ramsey hesitated, not sure how to describe it to the teen. In the end, he decided it would be best to just be blunt. “She was crazy, tried to kill me for saying no to some shit, and I broke it off when I stole a bunch of money from her business,” he said. The orange-haired teen seemed to become even paler than before at the news. 

“That’s… not ideal,” he muttered. Ramsey raised an eyebrow, going to question the younger person on what he meant when the door was thrown open. Before he could even process it, a weight being thrown into him and practically throwing Ramsey off the porch. Just as his back hit the walkway a pair of lips were forced onto his.

It took Ramsey only a split second to realize what was happening before he shoved Emily off, yelling, “What the fuck?!” The woman looked at him with confused purple eyes. Her black hair outlined her face, making her skin look even paler than he remembered.

“Why did you do that, Rammy??” Ramsey almost didn’t know what to say. Almost.

“What the fuck was that for?!” He demanded, standing back up and brushing himself off. She suddenly latched onto his arm and shoved it between her breasts. 

“Because I love you!” she damn near yelled in glee. Ramsey felt nothing but repulsion under her touch, and he shoved her away again. He literally felt like he was going to vomit. 

“Well I don’t,” he snapped. “That’s not even- why the hell was that your first reaction to- Eugh!” He whipped his mouth on the sleeve of his arm, trying in vain to get rid of the taste of acid. When he stopped, Ramsey noticed a sour look on Emily’s face as she glared at something on his hand. It was only for a split second so he figured it was just him projecting his own disgust. 

Sylvie cleared his throat from the porch, gaining both of their attention. “I hate to interrupt whatever… this is,” he gestured at them, “but we came to discuss business.”

“Well, I don’t have any businesses. Not anymore at least,” Emily said with a glare at the redhead. 

_ Oh great, she’s still as batshit as ever, _ Ramsey thought to himself. He made sure to keep an eye on anything she could use as a weapon in case she decided to go into one of her “mood swings”. (Normally, Ramsey hated using that term. But he had no idea what else to call it when one moment someone is trying to kill you and the next they were lovey-dovey. Oh wait, manipulative might work better.)

“Heard you might be in a shadier business,” Ramsey told her. “Like Inscribed trafficking.”

Emily crossed her arms angrily. “I don’t know anything about it.”

“That’s not what your friend told us,” Sylvie responded. “He said you were borrowing his van.”

“A van under suspicion for kidnapping and trafficking.” That last part the ratman was lying through his teeth, but he was pretty good at lying at this point. It seemed to work as the black-haired woman became more fidgety.

“I don’t know what Stewart is talking about,” she snapped angrily. “Besides, I don’t know what some snot-nosed little brat knows about trafficking.”

“I’m not a kid!” Sylvie suddenly yelled before gathering himself. “I… have a doctorate.” Emily laughed condescendingly.

“In what? Coloring inside the lines?” she mocked.

“You know what-” Sylvie started to yell before Ramsey cut him off by gesturing for them to leave. Still bristling, he brushed past her. “We don’t have time for this.” 

Ramsey started to follow only for Emily to grab onto his arm again. He tried to wrench his arm free, skin-crawling under her grip, but she was holding on too tightly.

“You should come in for some sugar,” she practically purred, starting to lean in. Ramsey scowled before shoving her back again. He made sure that his hand did not touch any intimate bits when he did. She let go in surprise, taking a couple of steps back.

“Don’t. Touch me,” he told her sternly. “I do not, and never will, like you in any sort of way again. I never would have come here if it wasn’t for this case. I never want to see you again. I’m in love with someone else, and it will never be you. Now don’t fucking try anything.” 

With those words, the ratman quickly followed the younger teen down the street. He didn’t look back, he didn’t want to, because a part of him was afraid to see her run at him with a knife, or bat, or anything really. Luckily, she seemed to get the hint and he didn’t get bludgeoned with some random object. By the time he made it back to the car, Sylvie had already buckled up his seat belt. Percy looked upset over something but quickly hid it with a smile and she held out a bottle of water to him. Ramsey quickly took it and washed his mouth out.

“Thank you doll,” he said while getting into the car. She nodded in response.

“So now that that’s over,” Sylvie said leaning forward. “We should start the stakeout. She’s lying.”

“How do you know?” Giovanni asked.

“We never mentioned Stewart’s name,” the younger teen pointed out, “So how did she know we were talking about him?”

“Good point. Circumstantial, but would hold up as a probable cause,” Percy mulled over the words. 

“So does that mean we have to take shifts staring at this crazy lady’s house?” Giovanni asked.

Percy nodded, “Of course.”

“Goddamn it.”

* * *

3 am. It was now 3 am. And they were still. Staring at the house. With no movement or activity.

“Something had better happen,” Ramsey muttered into his energy drink. Beside him, Percy chuckled.

“It would make this more interesting,” she said.

“I still don’t know how you can stay this up without some sort of boost,” he commented. Both of them chuckled as Ramsey turned back towards Emily’s house. In the back, the two teens were fast asleep, having conked out at about midnight. Not that Percy or Ramsey minded. Both of them kind of figured it would happen at some point. 

“Ramsey?”

“Hm?” he asked without quite looking at Percy. After a couple of moments of silence, he looked at her slightly worried. Her head was held down, her hair obscuring her blue eyes. He grew more worried when he saw her biting the inside of her cheek, showing just how nervous she was feeling. He put his energy drink in the cupholder and fully turned his attention towards her. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“There is something I wish to tell you,” she admitted, “but I’m not sure how to say it.”

“You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to,” he told her. Percy shook her head.

“No, no you deserve to know the truth.” His heart started pounding as it sunk to the bottom of his stomach. Ramsey knew that she wasn’t involved in this case other than just trying to solve it to save the people in it including a little girl. So whatever it was she wanted to confess, it was something that was obviously eating her up.

“The truth about what?” he asked slowly. The woman looked down for a few more moments before raising her gaze to lock eyes with him.

“My tattoo,” she began, “was from when I was fourteen.”

“A rebellious streak?” Percy looked down again, shaking her head. 

“No,” she confessed, “It’s from when I joined a gang.” 

Okay. Ramsey was not expecting that. If he was still drinking his drink, he was sure he would have spit it out in a comical fashion. He doubted that would have helped at all though. So instead, his mouth hung open in surprise. Percy continued.

“My dad died when I was young,” she told him. “And when I was fourteen, my mom died in the line of duty. I was sent to live with my aunt and I… lost myself. I started to hang out with bad people, do horrible things, and shoot at people… I wasn’t good with a firearm so no fatalities despite...” She closed her eyes. Ramsey hesitantly grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. She squeezed back, slightly relaxing. “I was arrested before I was too far gone.”

“What happened?” he gently asked.

“We were about to commit a robbery when we got pulled over. Some of the people in the car started shooting, but I tried to run. I didn’t get very far. The policeman that arrested me lectured me in the car. But afterward, he started talking to me. Listening. Then he said that he wouldn’t put it on my record, but that I had to try to pull myself together, to get a fresh start. And… I did. I went home, got help, and straightened myself out. I became a police officer to try to help others, people like me who just need someone to be there. Like I did.” Percy lowered her head again. “I’m forever grateful to him. After I passed the academy, I got the roses added in memory of him.”

“Is that why that guy knew your last name?” he pointed out. Percy nodded.

“I was well known within the gang for my sword skills and… other things,” she admitted. “I guess it stuck around after I left.”

Ramsey let it all sink in before speaking again. “Why did you feel the need to tell me now? You could have easily gone to the grave with this.” This time, Percy stayed quiet for a moment.

“Because earlier, when that… man was spouting off those things. I… lost control of my anger. I gave into old habits I had picked up at that time of my life. I scared you, I could see it. I was scared of myself,” she told him. “And I… don’t want to make you feel like you have to stay if you don’t want to.”

“Course I want to stay, Perce!” Ramsey lowered his voice as he continued, “Why wouldn’t I? Cause you did a normal human thing and made a mistake- though I don’t think it was, the guy was worse than birds- and you think I’m scared of you now? Percival King, I may have been scared at that moment, but I was more worried about whether or not you were okay after that punch. That was one hell of a punch and I could not have been more proud of you.”

Percy scowled, “It was still against the law.”

“It was more of a matter of when it happens than if it was against the law,” he said. She let out a laugh and it gave Ramsey the courage to cup her cheek. After a moment, Percy leaned into the touch. “I would go to the ends of the world and back to help you, Percy. You mean a lot to me. I… care about you. A lot.”

His eyes locked with Percy’s bright blue eyes and he couldn’t bring himself to look away. The rest of the world literally started to melt away as they continued to stare at each other in silence. Without thinking, Ramsey started to lean forward, not entirely sure of what he was doing. Percy started to lean in too and he decided to close his eyes and not let his brain get in the way anymore.

Yet, when he felt Percy’s finger on his lips instead, he opened his eyes in confusion. Her gaze was no longer on him, but something behind him. She gestured to it and Ramsey turned to see that there was now activity in Emily’s house.

The woman had walked out of her house and was heading to her car, glancing all around the property. Ramsey then knew why Percy had stopped him, they needed to follow her. Once she had started to drive off, he turned on the car and started to follow her. In his mind, he was silently going over what had happened minutes beforehand.

He could not believe that he had practically confessed to Percy and almost kissed her. After he told himself he would do the exact opposite. He was silently both thankful and angry that Emily had decided to leave when she did. He had no idea what would have happened if they did kiss. Probably nothing good. 

Ramsey glanced over at her, wondering what was going on in her mind and wishing he had a mind-reading Epithet. Suddenly, there was the sound of screeching tires, metal on metal, then silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to say that Percy's backstory is influenced by this post https://breadthecat.tumblr.com/post/190758501532/little-secrets by breadthecat. Though all the details about her parents and aunt were thought up by me and WriterzBlock, the part where Percy was in a gang and having a tattoo comes from their post. I very much like the idea of Percy with one and with that sort of backstory and thought it would be perfect for her.


	11. What Goes Around, Comes Around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there will be a bit of blood mentioned in this one. Just thought it would be good to warn people in case. Also, the next two chapters after this will be Trigger Warning chapters for the graphic violence/blood/gore. If you are upset by these sorts of things, don't worry! Like I did with Twist of Fate, there will be chapter summaries at the top of the important information so you won't miss anything. So please don't try to force yourself to read them and I hope everyone has a good day!

“What are we going to do?! We have to do something!” Giovanni yelled as he paced around the room, bandages wrapped hastily around his head. They were slowly starting to turn red. 

Meanwhile, sitting on the bed, Ramsey had his head in his hands, in some vain attempt to help with his oncoming headache. But that could be caused by him replaying the last few hours events over and over again in his mind. He was grasping at straws, trying to figure out where he screwed up, how things could have ended up differently. How Percy could have ended up alive and Sylvie not kidnapped.

* * *

_ Ramsey could barely think past the ringing in his ears. Forcing his eyes open yielded little more than a blurry image of shattered glass. _

The windshield…? What in the…  _ His thoughts were cut off by a groan to the left. He forced his head to turn towards it to see Percy, unconscious and bleeding from cuts across her face including a particularly bad one on her forehead. Ramsey tried to reach out to her, worry and dread cutting into his heart. Everything seemed too far away though, too blurry with every thought trapped behind a thick fog. _

_ The sound of breaking glass broke into the fog. It took a full second for him to realize that it was coming from behind him. Taking his eyes off the unconscious blonde, Ramsey once again forced himself to turn his neck. His neck was screaming at him in protest but he powered through it. The sound was being caused by Giovanni, who had wrapped his scarf around his hand and was punching the glass. Next to him, Sylvie was struggling to get a grasp of his surroundings. His glasses had been knocked off and were somewhere in the car, probably lost and broken by now. _

_ Suddenly, his door was ripped open and Ramsey was unceremoniously dragged out of the car. He couldn’t even find the strength to scream. But through the haze that was his mind, he saw that Percy was also being dragged out. Only it was through the broken window. He saw her side being cut by one of the shards and the world was suddenly in focus again. _

_ Ramsey immediately started to thrash, bones creaking and cuts screaming in protest, but he kept it up until his fist landed one of the guys’ faces. With a yelp, Ramsey was freed of the hands holding him. He instinctively turned himself into gold and looked around for Percy and the teens. He saw Giovanni fighting off some of the guys with his bat while Sylvie was too out of it to full fight back. Ramsey didn’t see Percy.  _

_ He started to run at the guy holding the younger teen when his leg suddenly flared up in pain. With a pained shriek, the pain caused him to lose his footing and Ramsey came crashing to the ground. He glanced at his leg, not seeing any sort of wound on his leg before a voice cut through the pain and made his blood run cold.  _

_ “Hurts, doesn’t it Rammy?” _

_ Ramsey turned to the voice, praying that it wasn’t who he thought it was. But lo and behold, there she was. Emily Pennington, standing by a blue van that had pulled up without him noticing. He did notice the gun she had pointed to Percy’s head though.  _

_ She was barely conscious, probably not even sure of what was actually going on. Blood was plastering her hair to her face, staining the ends a sickening red color. She kept glancing around the area, her blue eyes blurry and glazed over as she focused on trying to stay on her feet. She kept looking around at the same time like she was trying to figure out what was going on through the fog that her mind was probably in. Her gaze always came back to him though. _

_ “Wh… what did you do?” he demanded. He was trying to be demanding but with the sandpaper-like state his throat was in, it came out much less intimidating than Ramsey would have liked. _

_ “Oh, I didn’t do anything,” Emily sneered, “Your little wifey did this to herself when she stuck her nose into things she shouldn’t have.” She cocked the gun. “Now stop struggling, or she gets her brains splattered in the middle of nowhere.” _

_ The wifey comment completely went over Ramsey’s head as Giovanni’s bat hit the ground with an audible thunk. He turned to see the kid was glaring at the woman, his hands up in surrender when he was forced onto the ground. The red-haired man turned his attention back to the two women. _

_ “There, now let us go.” God, his voice sounded so pitiful.  _

_ Emily laughed, the sound sounding like nails on a chalkboard to Ramsey. “You really think that we’ll let you go? Your friend there would fetch a high price for his Epithet,” she boasted. “And… Well I mean, I don’t need a cop. Even if she’s a disgraced one with an Epithet.” _

_ “Don’t you fucking hurt her!” Ramsey found the strength to leap at them. He didn’t know what he expected or wanted. Maybe he could get the gun away from Emily? Or get Percy out of her toxic grip? All he knew was that he had to get Percy away from her. _

_ Just as he leaped, something hard hit the back of his head. Ramsey fell to the ground, his head spinning once again. Someone had hit him with something, but he couldn’t pass out now. He had to get to Percy.  _

_ The world started to slow down as Ramsey’s consciousness began to fade away. Sylvie was thrown into the back of the van. Giovanni was hit over the head with a rock and was knocked out. Emily dragged Percy to the van, the smaller woman unable to do more than try to stumble along. A gunshot rang out. The people got back into the van and drove away as the world finally faded away to darkness. _

* * *

“Hey! Ratman! You need to snap out of it!”

Ramsey jolted up at the new voice. That didn’t sound like Giovanni. (When had he even left the room?) When he lifted his head up, he came face to face with a woman with orange hair and blue eyes obscured behind glasses along with an eyepatch over one of them. For a split second, Ramsey thought it was Sylvie but then remembered it couldn’t be since he was kidnapped. (That and the teen didn’t have boobs.)

“I- who-” he blurted out.

The woman took a step back and saluted. “Officer Lockhart reporting for duty!” Ramsey blinked before the name fully sunk into him.

“You’re Meryl?” She nodded.

“I got a distressed message from Dr. Ashling,” she explained. “We knew we had to come help when we got it. But since his phone was off, we had to track your phone.”

“We?” Large footsteps brought another person into view: a large buff man with bright pink hair and beard. It took Ramsey a split second longer to recognize him.

“Sergeant Eros?” he asked in bewilderment. The bruff man nodded before tossing a folder his way. Ramsey clumsily grabbed at it, barely managing to catch it without spilling its contents. He opened it up to see a face that made him want to vomit.

“We looked more into this Emily Pennington,” he told Ramsey, “Turns out her house was paid for by a Christopher Jones. This man also has another property close to the Seaside country. Records say it’s empty but there are also records of him getting construction done. Meryl already healed up that Potage kid, so we were waiting on you to get going.” ( _ Oh so that’s where he went. _ )

Ramsey flipped through the papers, barely able to even read more than a couple of words. It hurt his head to focus too much on the tiny words. He knew it was probably a concussion, but he also knew how badly he wanted to get Emily for this. To get her put away or even worse. He wanted to finish what Percy had started.

“When do we leave?”


	12. On the Inside (Trigger Warning)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the clutches of the traffickers' hideout, Percy wakes up to find that both herself and Sylvie were taken after the car crash. In the cell with them is Molly Blyndff, alive and well but shaken. Molly explains that, while she didn't know how long she had been missing, she had been put into the Arena- where their captors' pit the "products" against each other to break their spirits. Molly also reveals that she refused to use her epithet against other people and was told that she would be punished for it. Both Sylvie and Percy promise to protect her from this "punishment" just before Emily comes in with a couple men. They try to take Molly away but are stopped by Sylvie. When Emily comments that for this he will also be punished, Percy stands up to take both of their places. Though the two try to stop her, the woman is taken away to receive it. It turns out to be whippings by Emily in front of the "buyers" in the Arena. Percy, unfortunately, eventually passes out from the pain.

The burning sensation in her arm pulled Percy out of unconsciousness. Her upper left forearm burned and throbbed in pain, but she couldn’t place why. There was also another throbbing pain in her side, enough to make her want to whimper. Her hair was clinging to her face in uncomfortable clumps as various cuts across her body stung. Then she heard the sounds of hushed conversations that at first sounded far away, only to grow closer as she woke up. The two voices belonged to a male and female whispering to each other.

Percy sat up, only for the pain to intensify in response to the movement. She let out a pained yelp and let herself fall back down. The blonde sensed movement to her side, causing her to open her eyes to view the darkened room around her. Once her eyes had adjusted to the dim light, she was surprised to see a familiar face with large fluffy brown hair next to her. 

“Molly?” Her throat felt scratchy and dry when she spoke, but Percy couldn’t help but feel relieved at the sight of the young sprog.

Though she looked a bit worse for wear. The stars that grew in her hair were dirty and had diluted colors. Her hair was matted, and stuck out in multiple places. Her hands, nervously fiddling with the jacket she had on, had multiple cuts and scrapes that also looked dirty. It took Percy a few moments to realize that the jacket she was wearing was actually Sylvie’s and smeared a bit with soot, dirt, and something red.

Said teen was leaning over Molly’s shoulder, his face also littered in various cuts. Even his glasses were smudged and cracked in some places. His hair was a complete mess with most of it just being pulled back and out of his face to reveal a scape along his forehead. It wasn’t bleeding but still looked quite red and nasty. Like her own clothes, Sylvie’s clothes were torn and cut in some places.

“You’re okay,” Molly sniffled. 

Percy nodded, “Yes, though I… don’t quite remember what happened.”

“That Emily lady kidnapped us,” Sylvie explained. “She shot you in the arm in the process. I think she also crashed into us.”

“Ah, that explains the pain,” Percy said as she grimaced at the increase of pain in her side.

“I helped as best I could,” Molly said, “When they took me, they didn’t find my sewing kit so I was able to sew up your wounds. I’ve never done it before on people though…”

Percy used her uninjured arm to lift her shirt. Even though the wound was visible from the cuts in the shirt, she still wanted to see around the wound. The stitches were indeed used with sewing string and seemed a bit sloppy. The area around the wound was mostly cleaned, and Percy hoped it wouldn’t become infected.

“Thank you,” Percy told her, “You did a good job.” The young girl smiled, relief was visible over her face. Percy looked to the teen beside Molly. “Can you help me sit up?”

“But that will only make you hurt more,” he protested.

“Thank you, but I will be fine,” she assured him. “I wish to survey our surroundings and need to sit up to properly do so.” After a few moments of protest, the two agreed to help Percy sit up against the back wall. Ignoring the pain throbbing throughout her body, she got a look at where they were for the first time.

The place they were in was much like an old western cell, like the ones down at the police station or in Redwood Run. But at least those places were kept clean. Percy internally grimaced at the evidence of some… questionable stains in the corners. The ground might as well have been made of dirt, if the stone scraping her palms was an indication of the flooring material. The bars at least seemed to be made of actual iron. Though, that did not help their present situation at all.

“Where are we?” Percy asked Molly. “Can you tell us what’s going on?” 

The girl looked down into her lap, fists clutching the end of Sylvie’s jacket. Said teen placed a hand on her shoulder and she leaned into him a bit. His hand moved to wrap around her shoulders before she raised her head. Percy was surprised to see that she was tearing up.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I was brought here,” she started, “But it’s been long enough for me to be put in the ‘arena’.”

“Arena?” Percy asked.

Molly nodded, “It’s where they’ve been making us fight each other. I’m not entirely sure why. But after a certain number of battles won, the person gets sold off. I think. They just disappear afterward and there’s only rumors.”

Percy was shocked and horrified. From what she made it sound like, those who were being held were being forced to harm others as some sort of… catalyst. Making them fight to break their spirits and turn them palpable for whoever it was that bought them. Or even for their own sick entertainment. It made the blonde feel sick to her stomach just thinking about it. And then Molly said that she had gone into the arena.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

"I… I refused to fight. I didn't want to use my Epithet on other people," she said, "They tried to make me but I couldn’t…” Molly started to cry and Sylvie started to rub her side comfortingly. “They said I would regret it and I would eventually come around with some punishment.” 

“Punishment?” Sylvie mouthed without Molly seeing. Percy felt her blood start to boil at the realization the word he was mouthing was ‘whipping’. Her heart started to break at the sound of a choked sob coming out of the girl’s mouth. “I’m so sorry,” was all she could get out. 

“I’m scared,” Molly whispered. “I don’t want to hurt people but I don’t want to be punished.”

“You won’t,” Percy assured her. “We won’t let that happen.” Sylvie nodded. 

“Promise,” he told her. “If they try, I’ll stop them. …. Somehow…”

“Thank you…”

All three of them tensed as the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the hall. Molly shrunk more into the teen, who’s grip tightened slightly as he narrowed his eyes at the cell door. After a few tense moments, a woman flanked by two men came into view. The men looked like your typical bald bland henchmen. The woman, however…

“You,” Percy practically spat. Emily grinned darkly, waving her skeleton-like fingers.

"Me!" She said all too cheerfully. Emily snapped her fingers and the door was unlocked. The men started to come into the cell, clearly making their way towards Molly. "Punishment time!"

Sylvie reacted by standing between them, the younger girl starting to tremble from fear. The men paused at seeing the deadly glare coming from the teen. "Don't you dare touch her," he snarled. 

Emily clicked her tongue. "Little boy, we have a business to run and a standard to uphold. We can't have our products getting in the way of progress. So when they won't do what they're told, we have to persuade them. With a bit of pain."

"People aren’t products, you Sociopath!" Sylvie snapped back. "This isn't some business operation! This is some sort of sick play at power for you!" 

Emily's expression darkened at the raised voice. She once again snapped and Sylvie grasped at his forehead with a yelp. His legs started shaking suddenly and he would have fallen if Molly hadn't caught him.

"Sylvie!"

"Don't lump me in with those freaks," Emily's tone was cold and calculating. "Now, for that outburst, I think you should also be punished. Break that rebellious attitude before throwing you into the arena."

Percy felt panic rise in her as the two men started to walk towards them. She couldn't let them go through something that painful. She had seen how painful one could be to a grown adult. She couldn't see how two children would react to multiple. 

Struggling to ignore the pain in her side, Percy forced herself to her feet. All attention went to her as she made it upright. Forcing back the pain Percy starred Emily down with the best gaze she could muster. The woman actually took a step back.

"I'll take their place," Percy said. Molly let out a gasp while Sylvie forced himself back up.

"You can't be serious," Emily laughed, "You can barely stand!"

"I will take their place," Percy repeated. "But they are not to be harmed in any way."

The woman seemed to hesitate a moment before grinning. "Alright then, that would break their spirits more." For a split second, Percy wondered if she played right into the inane women's hand. 

"Percy, you don't have to do this," Sylvie told her. She shook her head and took a step towards the men. They grabbed her roughly before dragging her away. Her wounds screamed in pain and it almost made Percy cry out. She bit onto her lip so hard it started bleeding. But she wouldn't give Emily the satisfaction of knowing how much pain she was in.

A bright light ripped Percy out of her thoughts and she forced her eyes open to reveal herself in a round dirt arena. The entire area was colored in a sickening dark red color that Percy couldn't bring herself to think about it for too long. The walls were made of wood and the area around it was nothing but bleachers filled with random people. The bright light kept her from seeing any actual details of the spectators and them being under no lights did not help as well. 

In the middle stood two wooden posts with ropes tied to the top and bottom of each pole. Percy's heart nearly stopped at the sight as she was forced over to it. Before she could fully realize it, her wrists had been tied to the posts and her ankles were being secured as well. After that was done, they both stepped away and Percy was left there, in pain and shaking. 

"Welcome, one and all to tonight’s show! We'll have plenty of fights to get to, but first, we have a special gift to you all!" Emily's voice moved around even though Percy couldn't see her. "This here is Percival King, the detective who thought she could take us down! Too bad she's nothing more than a disgrace now. To commemorate her capture, we're going to break her in the hard way! A good old fashioned flogging!" 

A loud crack sounded in the air as the crowd started to cheer and holler. Dread sunk into Percy when she realized that she  _ had  _ played right into Emily's hand. 

"Let the breaking begin!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a white-hot pain raced across Percy's back. She couldn't keep in the shriek of pain from the lash. She expected it to hurt- there was a reason it was used as a punishment in older times- but she didn't expect it to hurt as much as it did. It felt like she had been hit with molten lava by how much it burned. She felt blood start to run down her back from the newly torn wound and her tattered shirt did little to stop the bleeding. It didn't stop at one of course. 

With each strike, the pain only intensified. The shrieks she made after each one only grew quieter and quieter despite the growing pain. After the fifth one, she could barely tell when the new one was made. The only way she could tell was from the increase in pain and even after so many her brain had started to block it out. Not long after Percy lost count, her vision started to go dark. Her body had gone numb a while ago, unable to handle the pain or blood loss, or both. One of the last things she heard before fully blacking out was Emily’s mocking laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I never really found a good place to put this information, but Emily's Epithet is Raise. She can raise her own perceptions, other people's drowsiness, or even feelings. (It's been pointed out that she could become a necromancer and... yeah, yeah she could. But that would be her Epitome or the ability she gets as a Nova class) This is how she found out about Sylvie being Inscribed and everyone staking out her house. She didn't find out about Giovanni being Inscribed because she didn't use it when arriving at the crash site. She knows about Ramsey being Inscribed but didn't take him because... Well, it'll be explained in the next chapter. I do hope you all will enjoy it and I will warn you it is over 5,000 words long.


	13. Let Chaos Reign (Trigger Warning)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After having her wounds taken care of by Molly and Sylvie, Percy wakes up sometime later to something strange going on. The cell block is filled with gas and they all cover their mouths to stop it from affecting them too much. When the gas is gone and the captors come in, all three play dead to catch them by surprise. They are able to knock the kidnappers unconscious and begin their escape. Emily eventually finds and blocks their way. Percy tells Sylvie and Molly to run and is forced to go with Ramsey's ex. On the outside, the police make their move and storm the place. Ramsey and Giovanni lead the way, helping victims escape and arresting the kidnappers all while looking for their missing friends. Once Giovanni is reunited with Molly, the two tell Ramsey that Percy is alive and that Emily has her. Ramsey goes after her while the older teen gets the two children out. Emily fights with Percy in the arena revealing that she is still in love with Ramsey and wants to get rid of Percy to have another chance. Once Percy's wounds start to catch up to her, Ramsey is able to find them and subdue Emily. Ramsey tries to get Percy out, but she unfortunately falls unconscious. As she's taken away Ramsey tells her that he loves her.

The next time Percy was able to see her surroundings again, she was back in the cell with her head facing the right side of it. She was laying on her stomach with something pressing against her back. It didn’t hurt too badly, but she couldn’t tell what it was. (Though it was still hard to feel anything. Which was probably shock at this point) To the left she heard sniffling and forced herself to turn towards it. 

Where she heard the sound coming from, Molly was curled up into a ball in the corner. Sylvie was sitting next to her, arm wrapped around her shoulders. Percy could tell he was trying his best to comfort her. Percy must have made some sort of sound or made some noise while turning because they both looked up towards her. She could see the tell-tale signs of tear tracks running down the young girl’s cheeks.

“Percy!” Molly quickly scrambled over to her and Sylvie soon followed. While Sylvie looked less concerned on the surface, she could still see that he had been just as upset from the look in his eyes. She tried to sit up only for a back splitting pain erupted across her back. Molly caught her head before Percy slammed it into the ground when her arms gave out. “You shouldn’t move,” she told Percy, “Your back is still covered in open wounds.”

Percy remembered the whipping, the red-hot pain, and passing out. (She also remembered that woman’s god-awful, physically painful cackle) But she wasn’t sure for how long she had been out. She also doubted that the kids knew either, since Molly didn’t know how long she had been here. Percy did hope that Ramsey wasn’t freaking out too much though, the poor man had enough stress on his plate with all that had happened.

“I think that woman is Inscribed,” Sylvie said. “Earlier, when I almost collapsed, I had sudden spikes in pain and exhaustion.”

Molly thought for a moment before adding in, “When I was walking home, I suddenly felt a lot more exhausted. Almost like when I bumped into you in the museum.” 

The blonde grimaced at the idea. It would explain why she had felt so much pain during the… ordeal, even if it was her first time being whipped. However it would also add complications to everything. Emily being Inscribed would make it incredibly difficult to subdue her. Especially if she was able to make people exhausted at will.

“We need to come up with a plan,” Sylvie said. “Her Epithet seems to be working, but it’s like we’re in Eraser cuffs.”

“It might be best to see if we can get ahold of some Eraser cuffs,” Percy told them, “If we had my police bag we could… But those were left at home…”

“I could try to reverse psychology,” he suggested. “But with how…. unstable she is, it might just backfire.”

“Does anyone else know you’re here?” Molly asked. Percy nodded. 

“Ramsey and Giovanni know we were taken,” she told the child, “So they should be looking for us.” The blonde paused. “Speaking of Giovanni, you never told me you knew the Bansai Blasters.” Molly looked down at her lap guiltily.

“I know, and I’m sorry for lying to you,” she said. “But I was just trying to protect my friends. Gio, Boss, he stood up for me when I wouldn’t and got hurt for me. He’s helped me gain enough confidence to stand up for myself and speak up. He may be a villain, but Boss isn’t a bad guy. I couldn’t turn my back on him after all he’s done for me.”

Though Percy was upset that Molly had lied to her about that night in the museum, she could understand why Molly had done so. It was technically what that cop had done for her all those years ago by not arresting her. 

“How about you make it up to me by telling me the complete truth over what happened that night?” she asked. Molly smiled, almost relieved.

“Promise,” Molly told her. They both smiled at each other as Percy started to pass out again. Molly seemed to notice and helped her lay back down. 

"We'll take care of your wounds," Sylvie told her. Percy let out an appreciative hum as the blackness overtook her vision.

* * *

Percy woke up sometime later with an unnerving feeling in her stomach. It felt like the feeling she would get before a bad storm. This time though, she didn’t know why she was getting this feeling. It could have been because of her wounds or what had happened with Emily. She tried to look around, but it was too dark to see anything really. 

Luckily, the pain in her back and side had dulled down to a throb Percy could think through. Moving slowly and carefully, she forced herself upwards with her hands under her as upper body support. Percy then looked around the room for her eyes to get used to the low light. Once they had, she could see Molly and Sylvie asleep against the wall to her right. Molly had her head resting on Sylvie’s lap with his hand laying across her back. Sylvie was leaning against the wall with his head tilted back. They both looked quite peaceful in their sleep and it warmed Percy’s heart at the sight.

She heard a hushed conversation in the distance. She strained as hard as she could to hear what they were saying but she couldn't make out any words. But she could hear the urgency in their tones. Something had happened, or was going to happen, and it obviously wasn’t good for their captors. Or at least, Percy hoped that was the case.

Suddenly, in the even further distance, she heard a sound that caused her heart to soar. It was a piercing sound that she knew all too well and found synonymous to the sounds of justice. It was a sound that filled her with hope and relief throughout her entire being. It was the glorious sound of sirens that steadily grew louder and louder as the calvary raced to the rescue.

Sylvie began to stir, as did Molly, when a door to their (probably) cell block opened. What followed was the sound of metal on stone indicating that something had been thrown in. As the door clicked shut a new sound filled the new silence. The sound of hissing air as it escaped its confines. Percy covered her mouth and nose just as greenish mist began to fill her vision. 

“Dr. Ashling! Molly! Cover your faces!” She quickly called out to them as the gas reached them. From the corner of her eyes, Percy saw Sylvie pull his jacket over Molly’s face who looked too groggy to quite know what was happening. The gas washed over them, making the blonde’s eyes water as she struggled to control her breathing. 

Soon enough, the gas dissipated and they could all breathe safely once again. Molly looked like she was just fine while the older teen looked like he had inhaled some of the mystery gas as he started to lean against the wall. Percy wanted to check on him and make sure he was alright, but she stopped when she heard the approaching sound of footsteps. 

“Act like you’re asleep,” she quickly told the two. Molly nodded and helped lay Sylvie down before laying down next to him. Percy let herself go limp and kept her eyes shut despite the pain rising in her wounds. She forced her eyes to stay shut when the door opened and a group of about four walked in. 

“Looks like they’re out cold.”

“Good. That will make transporting them easier.” 

“Just grab them already and let’s go!”

As hands grabbed at Percy’s waist, she sprung into action. She slammed her elbow into the person's face, causing them to stumble back in shock. Fighting through the pain, she rolled onto her back, planted both feet on the man's stomach, and pushed with as much force as she could muster. The man flew back as his breath was knocked out of him and he knocked over the two standing in the doorway. As they slumped to the floor, Percy could see that the two he had hit were knocked out by the force of the impact while the man she kicked was dazed.

The last man, the one by Molly and Sylvie, tried to pin her down. As he did, the two children each grabbed a leg to trip him. When his head hit the ground, Percy swung a punch at his head to make sure he stayed down. The man Percy had kicked before recovered from his daze and started to advance on them. She held her fists up, ready for the fight she would have to partake in while fighting back the pain racing across her body. Before he could get too close however, a round yellow and red shape was hurled into the man’s head. His head snapped back with a slight snap and he crumbled into a heap. 

Percy turned to see Sylvie holding the object from before, which she could now see was a yoyo, while Molly was helping him stand. The blonde grew worried as she saw how unsteady the male was on his feet. 

_ He must have inhaled more than I thought _ , she thought worriedly. Before she could ask if he was okay, Sylvie interrupted her. 

“We should get going before they notice anything wrong.” Percy hesitated before nodding. 

“Once outside, I can make an apothecary to mend any physical wounds we have,” she assured them. Molly nodded and they all hurried out the best they could towards where an exit hopefully was.

**~~**~~**

Ramsey held on for dear life as Eros sped down the cold country roads. Giovanni was forced to cling to his seatbelt, since that was the only thing he could use to steady himself. Meryl was not much better, she looked just as queasy as Ramsey felt. (Though, he couldn’t tell if his nausea was caused by the bumpy road or worry about the kids.)

“Why couldn’t we just try to sneak in before everyone went in??” Ramsey practically shouted over the siren.

“Because the possible exits needed to be blocked within a mile radius,” Eros responded calmly. “It made it easier with our help and went quicker. We need to get those people out of there as soon as possible, so we had to help.”

Ramsey internally agreed, but he still wished that they could have just gone straight in. Emily was a loose cannon, and there was no telling what she would do. Especially after what happened with Percy. The red-haired man quickly blinked away the tears that sprung up from thought of the blonde as it felt like someone stabbed him in the chest. It was still hard for him to think about what happened and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to forget his mistake. But he could stop future deaths by stopping Emily and her ring now.

As soon as Eros parked the car, Ramsey jumped out. He ignored the shouts behind him and continued to run. (He actually forgot that he didn’t technically have a weapon, other than his crayons.) As he threw the door open, a blur of motion ran under his arm, making the man jump until he realized it was just Giovanni brandishing his bat with a shout. 

There were a few people who were holding boxes by another door leading further in. The people within were just as startled at the sudden entrance, some even dropping their boxes right on their feet. Some fumbled for their weapons while others tried to get away, but the teen was on them before they could. With each swing of the bat, Giovanni knocked someone out. Before Ramsey knew it, Giovanni was standing in the middle of the group of unconscious people. 

“Let’s go get Bear Trap! And Four-Eyes!” He yelled as he held the bat across his shoulders. Ramsey nodded and followed the teen further into the building. 

**~~**~~**

Percy led the children through the building as quickly and silently as she could, but with her wounds, it was growing harder and harder to walk steadily. She kept at it though, determined to get the two sprogs out safely. After she almost tripped over her own feet, both of them forced her to sit down. When she did, Percy could almost feel her strength ebb away. 

“Your wounds are too severe for this level of exertion,” Sylvie scolded her. “You need to rest or you’ll collapse.” Percy merely nodded in response, unable to speak as she caught her breath. Luckily, it seemed that the gas’s effect on the doctor had lessened the longer they ran, so he was tired but alert.

“I wish I could use my Epithet… I think I could help you,” Molly muttered. Percy let herself catch her breath before placing a hand on the younger child’s head. 

“It’s quite alright,” she assured Molly. “It’s not your fault and you shouldn’t have to worry about helping me.” 

The girl sniffled, but stayed quiet. “I wonder how close we are to the exit,” Sylvie thought out loud. 

“Hopefully, we’ll get there soon,” Percy said. She was starting to feel a bit warm, but that was probably just from the exhaustion and wounds. She felt Molly place a hand on her forehead but her eyes were already drifting shut.

“You’re burning up Percy…!” Molly gasped. Too tired to fight the sounds, Percy let out a whimper as hands tried to help her up. "We need to get you out now…!"

Percy shook her head, gently taking the hands off her. She couldn't get the hand off her wrist however, and she suspected it was Molly's. "No, no, I'll only slow you down," she protested, "You two need to get out of here now and get to the police safely."

"We can't just leave you behind Detective," Sylvie stated. Percy started to shake her head again, opening her mouth to protest, when a voice from behind made her eyes snap open.

"You should listen to her, children. You wouldn't want to see this. Or maybe you do."

Percy forced herself to stand, her back to the two sprogs. She felt Molly's hand on her wrist, trembling slightly as they all saw that Emily had somehow snuck up on them, whip in hand. Her purple eyes were cold and harsh, not trying to hide the sheer amount of hatred in them while her hair was a mess, no longer neatly framing her face. Her fingers held a tight enough grip on the weapon that they were somehow even whiter and Percy thought that they were nothing but bones for a moment. 

"Dr. Ashling, take Molly and go." Percy didn't dare take her eyes off of the woman in case she tried something the moment she wasn't watched.

"But-"

"Now." She felt bad about being so harsh towards the teen, but there was no choice. Percy needed them to get to safety and away from this woman.

After a few moments of tense silence, he spoke up. "Very well."

"Wait, what- Sylvie, we can't-!"

"Percy is a seasoned cop, she'll be alright," Sylvie assured her. "We'd only be in the way."

Slowly, Molly's grip on Percy's wrist loosened and the child let go. She heard rapid footsteps as the two ran away until the sound of a door closing signaled that they had left. Percy still didn't take her eyes off Emily. She refused to let the woman think that she had any sort of advantage over her.

"I think we need to have a talk."

**~~**~~**

As more police came, the warehouse came to life. Soon enough, they were having to point victims to the exit while fighting off more kidnappers. And even then, some of the victims lashed out at them before Giovanni and Ramsey were able to tell them that they were with the cops. It made Ramsey feel like throwing up when he realized how many kids there were.

“Wait, wait!” Giovanni suddenly shouted. Ramsey almost tripped over his own feet in surprise. When he turned towards the teen, he saw that Giovanni was running off towards something with his bat long forgotten.

“Hey! Hey!! What are you doing kid?!” Ramsey shouted after him.

“Bear Trap!” After a moment of internal debate, the man ran after Giovanni. When he found the pink-haired teen, Ramsey was surprised to see him hugging a child tightly. 

She was a Taiga-Deepwood mix with large puffy brown hair. In her hair were all too familiar pastel stars, though they looked more dirty. She was wearing a jacket that he realized was Sylvie’s, who was standing a few feet away. To Ramsey’s surprise, both Giovanni and Molly were crying. 

“You’re okay….!” Giovanni wailed. Molly was sniffling, clinging to the older teen as he held her tightly. “You’re safe!”

“Boss…! You came….!” She sobbed. 

“Of course I did!” Giovanni sniffled. “You’re my minion!! All my minions are like family! And family means no one gets left behind!” This caused the younger girl to cry harder, burying her head more into his chest with another wail. Ramsey almost felt bad about interrupting them. 

“Okay, this is really sweet and melts my heart,” Ramsey told them, “But we need to get you kids out of here before Emily finds us.” 

Molly’s head suddenly snapped up, green eyes wide with realization and horror. “Percy!” Ramsey flinched at the mention.

“Yeah, we’ll get that mean lady back for what she did,” Giovanni assured her through the sniffles. Molly shook her head vigorously.

“No, I mean, Emily has Percy!!” She yelled desperately. “We need to go back for her before- before-!”

Ramsey felt bitterness clawing its way up his throat as he was forced to bite back a remark. He wouldn’t allow himself to lash out at a child in his grief. “I, Molly the police lady, got shot,” Giovanni told her. “She’s-”

“She’s alive,” Sylvie interjected. “Emily just shot her in the arm and we were brought here, but while we were escaping, Emily found us and Percy told us to run! She’s alone with Emily!” 

“Percy’s alive?” Ramsey could barely hear himself over all the noise coming around him. His heart was racing, the blood roaring in his ears, palms sweating as he felt relief flood through him because  _ Percy was alive!! _

“Yes, but she needs help!” Molly repeated. Ramsey nodded, relief turning to dread when it sunk into him that she was currently alone with Emily. 

“Go get the kids out of here,” Ramsey told Giovanni. “I’ll go get Percy and follow you guys.’

Giovanni nodded, “Got it Ratman!”

“Wait but we can help!” Molly protested.

“We should get out of the cops' way,” Sylvie told her, “And get our wounds checked out.” The girl looked reluctant, but nodded in agreement. 

“Okay…” Ramsey gave her head a pat. ( _ Holy crap that is some soft hair _ ) 

“Where were they last?”

**~~**~~**

“What are we doing here?” Percy asked. She hissed in pain when Emily shoved her forward. Percy stumbled, barely able to keep herself up right as the spike in pain made her knees buckle. She threw a glare over her shoulder and walked towards the middle of the dirt field. 

Emily had led Percy to the arena, well, Percy was in the lead and Emily shoved. She knew that her back was probably going to end up reopening again, but she couldn’t do anything about it just yet. The blonde needed to wait for an opening to escape and get to the police. She could hopefully do that before she passed out from blood loss.

“How long?” Percy turned towards Emily, eyebrows knitted together. She took a step back when the ground by her feet was whipped. “I said, how long?” Emily snarled. 

“How long what?” Percy asked.

“How long have you two been fucking?!”

This only made Percy even more confused. “I have never had sex with anyone, I’m asexual.” The whip hit right next to her foot.

“You’re married though! That’s the only way it makes sense!” she shrieked. “He’s so-so- different!!”

“He has changed a lot,” Percy said. “He’s been allowing himself to let people get close and is trying to turn his life around.”

“But why?! Why did you have to be the reason for it!? Why couldn’t he just stay?!” Percy scowled as it fully dawned on her why Emily had such a vendetta against her. The realization left a bitter taste in her mouth and churned her stomach. 

“You’re still in love with him.”

Emily scoffed. “So what if I am? It’s not like he cared. If he was willing to use me, then what else was he faking? But, if he  _ has  _ changed and you’re out of the picture, I might have a shot.” 

In a fit of rage, Emily didn’t use the whip and instead tried to punch Percy. She easily dodged it and retaliated with a strike of her own to the gut. Emily let out an audible ‘OOMPH’ and clawed at Percy’s wounded back. Percy shrieked with pain and grabbed her attacker’s wrist, yanking her hand away. Her head suddenly bloomed with pain as Emily slammed her forehead into Percy’s. Percy tightened her grip as her police training kicked in, and she whirled Emily around with her wrist behind her back. Emily yelped with surprise as Percy grabbed her other wrist and pinned them behind her back. Without her normal cuffs, Percy instead (semi-involuntary) fell on top of Emily, pinning her to the ground. As Emily kicked and thrashed, Percy ripped the whip from her grip.

Perch held the weapon aloft, keeping it away from the squirming creature underneath her. Her vision was starting to blur, her wounds’ pain starting to overwhelm her. Taking a calculated risk, she planted a foot on Emily’s back and pushed away. Emily screeched in rage and stood up as Percy stumbled as far away as she could, clutching the weapon in her fist. Before either of them could move, a familiar voice rang out.

“PERCY!” The blonde turned her head to see Ramsey standing in the hallway they had come from. She felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw him, happy to see that he had survived the crash. Well, she knew he would have but it was still a weight off her shoulders to see him alive. There were a few bandaged cuts on his face, more than likely from the car crash. He was panting from exhaustion but still bolted towards Emily. The woman shrieked and tried to jump away but was clipped by a kick. She stumbled away as Ramsey jumped back towards Percy. 

“Are you alright, Perce?” He asked, not turning his head away from Emily. 

Percy nodded before realizing that her friend couldn’t see her. “Yes, I’m fine,” she forced out. She wiped away the tears that formed in her eyes- from the pain or happiness she didn’t know. “I could use some assistance with apprehending her.” 

This time, Ramsey turned to face her with his signature grin, making her heart race even more. “You’ve got it.”

**~~**~~**

Ramsey didn’t know what he walked in on, other than Emily and Percy was fighting. And that it looked like Percy was barely standing while Emily was barely winded. Without thinking, he rushed his ex and tried to tackle her. When that failed, he settled for a kick and jumped back to put himself between the two. From behind, he could hear her labored breathing, which only caused him to worry more. 

“This place is surrounded, Emily,” he called out to the woman. “It’s over!”

“No…! No it isn’t!” she screamed desperately. “I won’t let you take this from me too!”

She leaped at him and he easily sidestepped, bringing his hand down on her back. Instantly, her shirt began to turn to gold, causing her to stumble forward with the unexpected weight. She whipped around in a fighting stance, but was met with Ramsey’s golden fist connecting with her nose. There was a loud crack, and Emily fell onto her butt as blood gushed from her nose.

“Ow!!” He quickly dashed behind her, grabbing her wrist and twisting it behind her. She let out a shriek of pain and he silently hoped that he was doing it right. Sure, he hated her and she made him gag and she probably hurt Percy… Okay he now didn’t care if he was doing it right or not. (Probably not a good thing but oh well)

She tried to reach around and hit him with her free hand, but he just grabbed that one and put it behind her back. Ramsey turned to Percy, hoping that she had something he could tie her wrists with. She tossed the whip at him without a word. He clumsily caught it with one hand and did his best to tie her. He didn’t have any cuffs or rope on him, so it would have to do. Once he made sure it would stay, he ran over to Percy.

The woman was currently leaning her full weight on the wall next to her with her breath coming out in short, rapid exhales. It even sounded like she was fighting back tears to his horror. As he approached, he could see blood dripping down to the floor from long, bright red gashes in her back. His heart nearly choked him when he saw the wounds, he couldn’t breathe for a moment at the sight. It broke his heart to see her in so much pain and bleeding.

“Percy,” he yelled out. She slowly raised her head to face him. “Let’s get you out of here.” He quickly helped make sure she wouldn’t fall and put her good arm around him. Percy practically melted into him, shifting to move her weight to him and stumbling as he led her away. He could hear Emily practically foaming at the mouth as they left, but he couldn’t care less about her. Not after what she did.

“Hey, you gotta stay awake,” he gently nudged Percy when her eyes started to close. “At least until we get out. Alright?”

“M’kay….” Ramsey grimaced at how out of it she sounded. He doubted that even with as willful as she was, that Percy would have a lot of trouble staying awake. 

“Tell me about something you like,” he said. She lifted her head and fixed him with a confused look. “Like an activity, or hobby, just anything.” She was quiet for a moment and he was worried she had fallen asleep for a moment. 

“Well, I do like architecture,” she mumbled. 

“Really? Tell me more about it,” he egged her on. 

“My epithet is Parapet,” she said, “It was only natural I… research it.” Ramsey couldn't help but chuckle. 

“So that’s all? No other hobbies?”

“Hm… No, not really.” she admitted. 

“After all this is over, I should help you get into some hobbies,” he told Percy. “Like painting or star gazing maybe. Have you ever seen the stars?”

“No, but it sounds lovely,” she told him. “I’d love to.” They shared a smile, happy and bright despite the wounded faces and bloody hair. 

Something moved at the edge of his vision, too fast to be a person. Before he could fully process what it was, Percy grabbed it. To his horor, it was the whip and her hand started to bleed heavily as the weapon had opened up her hand. 

“Percy...!” Ramsey turned to see that Emily had broken out of her restraints, standing a few feet away. Her nose was still bleeding and she was panting hard. 

“You won’t get away that easily,” Emily forced out. Percy, still holding onto her end of the whip, let go of Ramsey and turned towards her. Even though she was leaning heavily on the wall, he felt a shiver go down his spine at the intimidating aura Percy was giving off. Even Emily took a step back.

“People like you are so caught up in the past and recreating it, that you don’t ever realize how much damage you’re doing,” Percy stated. Her voice was scratchy and hoarse, but it still radiated with strength. “You’re so caught up in the memories that you can’t see the world changing around you. In trying to recreate what you had, you’ve done nothing but spread pain and suffering. But you never will get back to that time, no matter how much you try, because there’s one constant in life- and that’s that everything changes.”

On the last word, Percy yanked the whip backwards, making Emily stumble forward. She took that moment to headbutt her hard enough that the woman just crumpled into a heap, unconscious. Percy let the whip go with a sigh and started to slide down the wall. Ramsey snapped out of his shock and quickly caught her before she hit the floor. Her eyes started to close, causing Ramsey to panic.

“H-hey, hey, Perce!” He tried shaking her to no avail. “Percy, you need to stay awake! Open your eyes!”

“‘m too tired,” she mumbled. “Just need a nap…” Her eyes drifted shut and no matter what Ramsey did, she didn’t open them.

“No, no no no no no no! Percy please!” The tears that he was fighting back started to fall as he gathered her in his arms. He forced himself to his feet and Percy’s head idly fell on his chest. “Please stay awake… I need you… I-I love you…!” 

Percy didn’t say anything as he walked. She didn’t stir as the tears fell on her cheeks. She didn’t react to the sirens when they got outside, or to the medics that took her out of his arms. He didn’t want to let her go, but he was feeling too numb to really fight them off. 

He just… watched through a blurry eye as the woman he loved was put into an ambulance and driven away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of my favorite quotes for those who needed to skip:
> 
> Percy: People like you are so caught up in the past and recreating it, that you don’t ever realize how much damage you’re doing. You’re so caught up in the memories that you can’t see the world changing around you. In trying to recreate what you had, you’ve done nothing but spread pain and suffering. But you never will get back to that time, no matter how much you try, because there’s one constant in life- and that’s that everything changes.
> 
> Giovanni: You’re my minion!! All my minions are like family! And family means no one gets left behind!


	14. Closed Doors, Opened Windows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to go ahead and post this cause there has not been much going on today and I'm kind of bored tbh. So enjoy!

Ramsey fiddled with the flowers in his hand and the elevator continued to make its way up. When the doors opened with a soft ding, he stepped out into the quiet hallway. He couldn’t quite get rid of the nervous energy that surrounded him, but the fiddling did help. The red-haired man waved to the familiar nurses as he walked down the hall before stopping at an all too familiar door. After making sure the brightly colored box would be, somewhat, hidden he gently pushed the door open. 

The room was gently lit by the large windows, giving the white room a soft glow. All the monitors had long gone silent, no longer needed. The bed was neatly made with no signs of the months of use it had seen prior. Ramsey scowled when he realized the nurses had already thrown out the flowers he had brought previously, even though they were only a week old. As he set the box down, the door to the bathroom opened and he turned to see an all too familiar person.

“Oh! Ramsey!” Ramsey couldn’t help but match her smile. 

“Heya Perce,” he greeted. Percy was practically bouncing on her heels as she swiftly walked over to him. Ramsey happily returned the gesture when she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. She buried her head into the crook of his neck with a hum and he felt himself get a bit flustered at the affection. But he was becoming used to the affections she gave the more he had visited her over the months. 

It had been a hard few months. Percy’s wounds were severe enough that they would leave scars and she would have to be careful not to reopen them. The trail for Emily and the underground trafficking ring took at least a month to end. She damn near had a mental breakdown when the ruling for 50 years with no chance at parole came down. Well,  _ trials  _ since Molly’s dad, Martin, had also been brought up on charges of child neglect and child labor. Sylvie had been taking care of her until she would get adopted or fostered. Luckily, since the amulet had been recovered fairly quickly with no repercussions, the Potage kid also got off with just some minor parole. Ramsey had been subjected to more parole, but hadn’t been thrown back in jail since he had been helping to take down a trafficking ring.

Ramsey couldn’t help but feel a pang of longing when Percy eventually pulled away. Although he knew that she didn’t feel the same, he still couldn’t help but want to stay as close as he could to her. Ever since Percy had first woken up, she never mentioned what Ramsey had said that day. He figured she hadn’t been awake for it, and counted himself lucky that he hadn’t made things weird between them.

“So how are you feeling?” he asked. Percy waved her hand in front of her, obviously frustrated. 

“Eager to get back to work,” she said, “I hate being forced to stay in bed and not do anything. It is a relief to be discharged today.”

Ramsey chuckled. “If you’re worried about your apartment, don’t worry, I’ve been taking good care of it.” She eyed him from the side. 

“Have you been putting in the precautions I asked you to?” she asked. Ramsey nodded. 

“Yup.”

“And-” Ramsey put the flowers down by the box and set his hands on her shoulders to help calm the woman down. 

“It’s alright Percy,” he assured her, “Everything is going to go fine.” Percy nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I know,” she said, “I suppose I’m just nervous.” He sat down next to her, trying not to laugh at how cute she looked. She started at her hands with her thumbs twiddling with each other. He gently took one of her hands in his to get her attention away from her thoughts. 

“It’s going to go fine Perce,” he told her. “They’re not gunna deny you just because you were recovering in the hospital for months.” She smiled and squeezed his hand. He inwardly flinched at the feeling of the scar across her palm. It was still hard for him to feel the whip scar without remembering the whip and the blood. It always made him feel a bit queasy.

“Thank you, Ramsey.”

He knew that she had a reason to be worried, being approved for foster parenting could take months for an application to go through and even then it was hard to be approved. But Ramsey knew how determined Percy was and how much she was eager for this to happen. Percy had grown quite attached to the girl over the short time they knew each other, and wanted to be able to give Molly a good home.

“I do hope that she’ll like it,” Percy mumbled. Ramsey squeezed her hand again.

“I’m sure she’ll love it. That girl absolutely adores you.” It was true. There were quite a few times that Ramsey had come to visit to find Molly and Percy playing games or watching tv. There was even one time where he had found the two asleep. (It was actually his home screen but he’d never show anyone that.)

Percy smiled, and it seemed less nervous than before. “I hope so.” Ramsey smiled back before remembering what he had brought with him.

“Right! I brought you a couple gifts today, doll!” Percy tipped her head as he reached over and grabbed both the box and flowers. He gave the flowers to her first with a grin. He felt a bit prideful at the blush that appeared over her cheek as she took them. 

“You didn’t have to Ramsey,” she muttered as she examined the lilies. He shrugged.

“I wanted to give you something since you were getting out of here,” Ramsey explained. “Plus, I think you deserve it for all the shit you’ve been through.” She smiled and put the flowers off to the side. Ramsey took the opportunity to snatch the box and hold it out to her while her attention was elsewhere. Percy blinked before accepting his gift. She opened her mouth to say something only for the words to die when she opened the box up. 

“Ramsey…”

“Do ya like it?” he asked. “I was hoping you would like it.” She set the box off to the side and surprised Ramsey with a tight hug. It took a moment for him to hug back, feeling himself smile wider. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Ramsey, I love it,” Percy told him. The man chuckled as the two pulled away. 

“Well, ya gunna try it on?” Her blue eyes seemed to glow brighter as she quickly fished out the contents of the box and raced off to the bathroom. Ramsey couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement. He was too happy to see her full of life after what had happened. “Let me know when you’re ready!”

“Alright, coming out!” He stood up and turned towards the bathroom as the door opened.

**Ending 1:**

Ramsey felt himself smile wider as Percy stepped out of the bathroom. She had changed into her full police uniform, though he didn’t know where she had gotten it as he didn’t bring it. The blonde was standing up straighter, practically beaming at the older man with the fake, golden badge pinned to her chest alongside her real one. The badge was much smaller than the real one, and was very obviously a fake. Her messy hair was hidden under the cap she rarely wore, now donned with a new golden hair piece that looked like a lightning bolt.

“You look like a real cop,” he teased. Ramsey had expected her to wear the hair piece but not the badge. Percy tilted her head to the side.

“But I am a real cop,” she protested. He chuckled and took a step forward. Percy took one forward as well. 

One other piece of good news was that Sergeant Eros had been able to convince the Police Chief that Percy deserved her job back, and that she had only run away because she wanted to finish the case. So, while there would probably be some restrictions for a while, Percival King was once again fully reinstated as a detective of the Sweet Jazz police force. Ramsey couldn’t have been happier to hear the news. He had always been worried that running off hurt her career. When he brought up the possibility of “what if”, Percy had admitted she had started to look into Private Investigating just in case.

“I know, doll,” he said, “The best damn cop there is.” She smiled brightly, causing Ramsey to become slightly flustered at the sight. 

“Thank you Ramsey,” Percy said. “You’re the best partner I’ve ever had.” He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, but he couldn’t fight the blush that formed from her words. He gave her a closed eye smile, trying to at least gather himself enough to continue their conversation without becoming a clusterfuck over her overall cuteness. His eyes snapped open though when he felt lips on his. 

Ramsey had not started daydreaming in the middle of their conversation, Percival King was indeed kissing him. After a moment of him being frozen in shock and his brain trying to catch up to reality, Percy opened her eyes and started to pull away. With a pang, he recognized regret as her cheeks started to turn red from embarrassment. He realized that Percy had taken his lack of reaction as rejection and decided to amend that. Ramsey gently took her head in his hands and cut off any apologies with his own kiss.

Percy took only a split second to react and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ramsey couldn’t believe he had waited this long to kiss her. It felt too good, like he could get addicted to it from the first one. And from how Percy was reacting, he guessed that she felt the same. He tried to pour as much of his feelings into the kiss as possible but he wasn’t sure if she could tell. 

They eventually had to pull away because of the need for air. Percy leaned her forehead on his as both of them caught their breath. Ramsey was still feeling light-headed from the kiss, and Percy was able to regain her breath first. 

“I love you too,” she said. The words made him feel even more light-headed, and he was barely able to speak over the sound of his heart beating.

“I, uh, too?” Percy chuckled which made Ramsey feel a bit better about what he had said.

“You said that you loved me that day,” she clarified. “I’ve been trying to figure out when was the best time to return the favor and figured that after the kiss would be best.”

Ramsey laughed and Percy joined in. He leaned his forehead on hers again, just smiling so hard it hurt. His chest felt light for the first time in months, and he felt happier than he had in a long time. Ramsey had no idea what would come next, but he knew he and Percy would be able to get through it together.

**Ending 2:**

Ramsey felt himself smile brighten as Percy stepped out of the bathroom. She had changed into her formal clothing complete with a dark tan trench coat. The coat wasn’t buttoned up and loosely hung around her hips. The blonde was standing straight up, though her shoulders did seem to sag a bit. Her messy hair was hidden under the bright blue fedora that was equipped with a shiny golden hair piece that looked like a lightning bolt.

“You look good Perce!” She smiled, though a bit bittersweet as she took off the hat.

“I would love to wear the little badge, but I’d rather frame it,” she admitted. 

Ramsey shrugged. “That’s fine.” After a moment of her staying quiet, he took a few steps towards her. To his shock, he saw that tears had gathered in her eyes as she examined the hat. “Hey,” he gently asked, “you okay, doll?”

“I… suppose I’m just overwhelmed,” she eventually admitted. “With everything that’s happened and your gifts…”

Ramsey felt a pang of guilt as he remembered what else had happened. Percy wasn’t a cop anymore. Eros had fought tooth and nail to get her reinstated, but in the end the police chief refused to budge. Though it was never said, he had blamed himself for the decision as he had been the one to convince Percy to run off in the first place. Ramsey had been there when the news was delivered and could see how upset the woman had been about it, even if she tried to hide it. He was proud to see that she was determined to continue a career in law enforcement, even if it was as a private investigator rather than a detective.

“Hey,” he tried to get her attention. When it didn’t work, he hesitantly took her chin in his hand and gently lifted her head up. He tried to ignore the blush that started to form on her cheeks as their gazes met. “It’ll be alright,” he assured her, “No matter what, I promise you’ll have to deal with this ugly rat face until the end.”

She chuckled, some of the sadness fading away from her bright blue eyes. “I don’t think you’re ugly.”

“Hm, well, a lot of people would think differently,” he teased. 

“I think you look quite dapper,” Percy told him. Ramsey forced a chuckle out to try to combat the oncoming blush. His face still felt really warm. Percy closed her eyes with a small hum before speaking again. “I love you too by the way.”

Face turned bright red at the words and Ramsey stuttered out some kind of questioning noise. Out of what he had expected her to say, that was certainly  _ not _ one of them. (Not that it didn’t make his heart race but still.) She opened her eyes with her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “Is something wrong?” she asked. 

“I- well, n-no, but I-” Ramsey gulped loudly as he could barely hear himself over the roar in his ears. “You what?”

“I love you,” she repeated. “I thought it was quite clear what I meant.”

“W-well, yes, I just… didn’t think you felt that way,” he admitted. Percy tilted her head again.

“Should I make it more clear?” she asked. 

He knew he shouldn’t, but Ramsey couldn’t help but joke, “With a kiss?”

“If you’d like.” He opened his mouth to speak, but no words could come out. Not with Percy giving him an amused look and looking too cute.

“I…” He threw caution to the wind and decided to just ask. “Can I?”

“Of course.” No sooner than the words were out of her mouth, Ramsey kissed her.

Ramsey had kissed people before, he had had plenty of partners. But he could safely say that none of them were as good as when Percy kissed him. While it was obvious she wasn’t experienced, she easily made up for it in the amount of love he felt from her. Ramsey felt her arms wrap around his neck and pull him closer (down to her height level). He smiled against her lips, placing his hands on her waist.

Ramsey had to pull away eventually. His lungs needed to breathe despite him wanting to keep kissing her. Percy leaned her forehead on his shoulder and he leaned his head on hers. She let out a hum as he felt her trace a small circle in his back. 

“I’d love to do that more,” he eventually murmured. Percy nodded as best as she could.

“As would I.” After a few more moments, she pulled away. Ramsey could still feel her touch and wanted to pull her back in. But both of them knew that she needed to go discharge herself before someone walked in on them. “Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?”

Ramsey smiled. “Of course Perce. Love ya.” Percy chuckled and he couldn’t help but think the room got brighter at the sound.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The end of All Good Cops Die Young! I do hope you all enjoyed the story and I want to thank everyone who has left kudos and comments! Both I and WriterzBlock enjoyed reading them all and we're sorry we couldn't reply to all of them! We had a lot of fun writing this and honestly just love the dynamic between these two and how they instantly clicked. (I'm a sucker for a cop and her criminal, ie Lucifer and Chloe)  
> I'd also like to talk about why there are two endings. This is because I originally planned for this to be the beginning of a Private Investigator Percy but figured that it would be a pretty drastic change so decided to do separate endings with one for the AU, and one where she returns to the job. Something I would like to say is that I would like to eventually do a sequel, but it will more than likely be with the PI Percy. Before I can though, I'd like to finish the Wings AU and then start on the Swap AU. (though the Swap Au will probably just be one-shots or mini-stories)  
> One other thing is that I've been practicing drawing and if there's a certain scene you'd like to see, feel free to send me an ask on my Tumblr! It's also where the Wings AU is posted and I'd honestly be happy to answer any questions about anything! (There's also a couple of drawings of PI!Percy on it too) My username is Millicent Dagworth if anyone is interested!  
> Until next time, everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Updates will be sporadic for a while until the fic is fully written, so I hope you all will stay with this until the end!


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